Immune repertoire and disease signature changes in primary Sjögren's syndrome patients after VAY736 treatment

EBERHARDT, NATALIA; PETERS, THOMAS; FROVA-SEGUIN, AURELIE

Simposio; Next Generation Scientists Research Day; 2019

NOVARTIS

Primary Sjögren?s syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology that predominantly affects middle-aged women, with a female-to-male predominance of 9:1 and an estimated prevalence of 0,3% in the general Population. It is characterized by lymphoid infiltration and progressive destruction of exocrine glands leading to a higher risk of B-cell lymphoma development. pSS patients present B-cell tolerance breakdown with numerous signs of B-cell activation, elevated levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) correlating with disease activity, and serum autoantibody levels. Ianalumab (VAY736) is a human IgG1/κ mAb designed to deplete BAFF-R+ B6. This novel biologic treatment should represent a more effective therapeutic agent in B cell-driven autoimmune diseases with high BAFF levels such as pSS. In the context of VAY736X2201 study, we evaluated the immune repertoire and geneexpression signature changes in pSS patients by state-of-art molecular biologyand sequencing techniques. Specific aims: Characterize the immune repertoire changes of circulating B cells in pSS after Ianalumab treatment. Assess the changes in autoimmune disease-specific gene expression signatures in salivary gland biopsies after Ianalumab treatment