Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of belimumab in Japanese patients with mild-to-moderate systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: Belimumab, an anti-B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) human monoclonal antibody, was approved in the United States, Canada and European Union for the treatment of the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, belimumab had not been evaluated in Japanese patients. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the safety and tolerability of belimumab in Japanese patients with SLE, as well as to investigate the pharmacokinetics (PK) and biological activity of belimumab in this population.