Lupus Clinical Trials

More details

Why researchers are excited: it is a mechanism no approved lupus drug uses. Also, the same drug is already approved in another disease, so its safety in people is better known than most.

Who this study is looking for

Age 18 to 75, diagnosed at least 24 weeks ago
Also, your disease is active now, with a SLEDAI score of 6 or more
Besides that, A clinical SLEDAI of 4 or more, which strips out the lab results
Finally, one BILAG A grade, or two BILAG B grades, at screening

Probably not a fit if: your lupus is flaring too hard. If your doctor thinks you need something new and strong added right now, you are out of a study testing something new and strong. People are screened out for being too sick far more often than they expect.

Placebo group: Real drug against a dummy, and the ratio is not published. However, both groups carry on with their usual treatment, so nobody is left untreated.
How long: The main read comes at week 52, with long term follow up well beyond that.
Clinic visits: Not published on the public record.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: Blood draws at every visit, urine tests, a heart tracing at screening, and joint counts. Also, the drug is given by drip or injection, and the record does not say which. No biopsy.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: Joint and Muscle Research Institute and DJL Clinical Research, both Charlotte NC.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Ask this first: your usual drugs continue, but only if they are on the study’s permitted list at permitted doses. That list is not published, so it is the first question to ask.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

The Idea That Was Abandoned and Then Fixed

UCB / Drug

This blocks the handshake between T cells and B cells, so B cells never get told to become antibody factories. The idea was dropped in the 1990s because the early drugs caused clots.

Late stage, 450 people A mechanism reborn

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: the new version is a fragment built deliberately without the part that caused those clots. So this is a mechanism researchers always believed in, finally made safe enough to test properly.

Who this study is looking for

Age 16 or over, diagnosed at least 24 weeks ago
Also, blood evidence of lupus, such as anti-dsDNA or low complement
Besides that, A SLEDAI of 6 or more, plus BILAG B in two organs or A in one
Finally, you are already on steady treatment, usually including hydroxychloroquine

Probably not a fit if: your lupus has moved into your kidneys. An eGFR below 30, creatinine above 2.5, or heavy protein in the urine rules you out here. Also, an overlap diagnosis such as scleroderma or mixed connective tissue disease is an outright bar.

Placebo group: Real drug against a dummy, added on top of your usual treatment. The ratio is not published.
How long: The main read comes at week 48, with safety to about week 54. So roughly a year.
Clinic visits: Not published. However, the drug is given by drip, so you attend the site for every dose.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: Drips at the study site, plus blood draws for antibodies and complement. Also, screening tests for HIV, hepatitis and TB, and long questionnaires. No biopsy and no scans.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: Research site, Charlotte NC 28211.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Read this first: there is a list of banned drugs with washout periods, and it is not published. So if you are on belimumab or anifrolumab now, assume a washout and ask before anything else.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Switching B Cells Off Instead of Killing Them

Zenas BioPharma / Drug

This grabs two targets on the B cell at once and pushes it into a switched off state. The cell is quieted rather than destroyed.

Mid stage, 190 people Call before you travel

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: drugs that wipe out B cells drop your antibody levels and raise infection risk for months. So aiming for the same control while leaving the cells alive is a meaningful difference to live with.

Who this study is looking for

Age 18 to 70, diagnosed at least 24 weeks ago
Also, A SLEDAI of 6 or more and a clinical SLEDAI of 4 or more
Besides that, A BILAG A or B in at least one organ, twice
Finally, you are already on a steroid, an antimalarial or an immune drug

Probably not a fit if: you had a clot in the last 6 months, or in the last 12 if it was linked to a clotting disorder. Clotting antibodies are common in lupus, so this rules out a real number of people. Also, an independent reviewer must agree your disease is active, not just your own doctor.

Placebo group: Real drug against a dummy, split evenly at 1 to 1. So it is a straight coin flip, and that ratio is published.
How long: About 40 weeks in total. Up to 4 weeks of screening, 24 weeks of treatment, then 12 weeks of follow up.
Clinic visits: Published, which is rare. Week 2, week 4, then every 4 weeks to the end.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: A weekly injection under the skin, 24 of them, which you give yourself between visits. Also, blood draws and skin checks. Notably, no drips, no biopsy and no scans.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: DJL Clinical Research, Charlotte NC 28211.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Call before you travel. This study’s completion date falls this month while the record still reads recruiting. So confirm it is genuinely open before you make the trip.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

For People Diagnosed in the Last Two Years

GlaxoSmithKline / Drug

An approved lupus drug, given early rather than late. Everyone gets the real thing, because the question is about timing rather than about the drug.

Post approval study, 350 people No dummy at all

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: this drug has been approved since 2011 but is usually kept until other things fail and damage has built up. So this asks whether using it early changes how the next twenty years go.

Who this study is looking for

You were diagnosed within the last 2 years
Also, clearly positive antibodies, with an ANA of 1 in 80 or higher
Besides that, active disease, or a lower score plus prednisone at 10 mg a day or more
Finally, A damage index of zero, meaning no permanent organ damage yet

Probably not a fit if: you have already moved to second line treatment. Any past belimumab, anifrolumab, rituximab or a JAK drug rules you out. Also, being unable to inject yourself at home with nobody to help is a bar.

Placebo group: None. Everyone gets the real approved drug, open label, and there is no randomisation at all.
How long: Three years. The first read is at week 52, then week 104 and week 156.
Clinic visits: Not published. However, the shot is weekly and you do it at home, so site visits are far less frequent.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: A weekly injection you give yourself at home with a pen. Also, blood draws and a TB test. No drips and no biopsy.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: GSK site, Charlotte NC 28202.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Worth knowing: this study turns you down for having started too much, not too little. So ask about it early rather than late.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Rebooting the Immune System With Your Own Cells

AstraZeneca / Cell therapy

Your own T cells are collected, changed in a lab to hunt the cells that make lupus antibodies, then grown up and given back to you. It targets two markers rather than one.

Early to mid stage, 150 people The heaviest by far

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: early reports of this approach describe people going into remission and off drugs entirely. So the hope is a reset rather than a lifetime of control, though that is far from proven.

Who this study is looking for

Age 18 to 70, with a classification score of 10 or more
Also, you have already failed at least two immune drugs, one of them a biologic
Besides that, A SLEDAI of 6 or more at screening
Finally, real organ involvement, such as joints, muscle, skin, lungs or kidneys

Probably not a fit if: you have had any previous cell therapy, or any past stem cell transplant. Also, your heart, lungs, liver and kidneys must all be working well enough to withstand the process, so this is a study you can be too unwell for.

Placebo group: None. Single arm and open label, so everyone treated gets the real thing.
How long: Assessed over 2 years, and the study runs to 2029. Also, safety tracking continues for years after that.
Clinic visits: Not published on the public record.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: By far the heaviest thing we list anywhere. Hours connected to a machine that filters out your T cells, then chemotherapy over several days, then a single infusion and a hospital stay. Also, a kidney biopsy if your lupus involves your kidneys and you have no recent one.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: Research site, Charlotte NC 28204.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Ask this before anything else: your current immune drugs almost certainly have to stop before the cells are collected. That requirement is not published, and it is the question that decides everything.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

For the Skin Damage Nobody Else Is Studying

EMD Serono / Drug

A tablet aimed at the skin side of lupus rather than the joints or bloods. It blocks two immune sensors that misfire and drive the interferon response.

Late stage, 202 people A tablet, and skin only

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: lupus skin disease scars faces and takes hair, and it is consistently left out of studies that count joints. Notably, you do not need systemic lupus to join this one at all.

Who this study is looking for

A diagnosis of discoid or subacute cutaneous lupus, with or without systemic lupus
Also, A CLASI skin activity score of 8 or above, twice
Besides that, at least 6 months since diagnosis
Finally, age 18 to 75

Probably not a fit if: another red scaly skin condition rules you out, and psoriasis is named. Because the score is read off your skin, anything else on it is a problem. Also, active kidney lupus on induction treatment, or induction finished within 3 months, is a bar.

Placebo group: Real tablet against a dummy on top of your usual care, and the ratio is not published.
How long: Up to 35 weeks in total, so 24 weeks of treatment plus screening and follow up.
Clinic visits: Published. Every 4 weeks, so about 7 in person, plus one video visit at week 2 you do not travel for.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: The gentlest study on this page. The drug is a tablet you swallow. Assessments are skin checks, blood and urine tests, and an itch score. Notably, no drips, no injections, no biopsy and no scans.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: Arthritis and Osteoporosis Consultants of the Carolinas, Charlotte NC 28207.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Why this one matters: if your worst burden is scarring lesions and hair loss rather than joint pain, there is very little else like it open anywhere.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

The two where nothing is done to you

No drug is given in either. However, joining one of these closes the door on the six above while you are in it.

Measuring How Well the Current Drugs Really Work

Bristol Myers Squibb / Observation

Nothing is tested and no drug is given. You carry on with whatever your own doctor prescribes, and the study records carefully what happens over up to five years.

Observation study, 223 people Nothing is done to you

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: any future drug has to beat what we already have, and nobody has measured that properly in people whose lupus resists treatment. So this builds the bar the next drug must clear.

Who this study is looking for

Age 16 or over, meeting the standard classification criteria
Also, steroids plus two or more immune drugs have not worked well enough
Besides that, one of those must have been a biologic, each used at least 3 months
Finally, active disease now, plus at least one positive antibody or low complement

Probably not a fit if: you are in another interventional study. That is the one that matters practically, because choosing this rules out every drug study on this page while you are in it. Otherwise the bar is unusually low.

Placebo group: Neither. There is no randomisation, no dummy and no study drug at all.
How long: Up to 5 years of follow up.
Clinic visits: Not published. Readings are taken at 6 and 12 months, then yearly.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: Minimal. Ordinary clinic checks, blood and urine tests, scoring and a fatigue questionnaire. No study drug, no drips, no injections and no scans.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: DJL Clinical Research, Charlotte NC 28211.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Worth knowing: this is the only study here where nothing about your treatment changes. So it costs you nothing clinically, but it does close the door on the others while you are in it.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

The Only Option Here for a Child With Lupus

Duke University, with the childhood rheumatology alliance / Registry

A long running national register of children and young people with rheumatic disease, including lupus. Nothing is done to them and no drug is given.

National registry Children and teenagers

Payment is not published.

More details

Why researchers are excited: it exists to catch rare and delayed safety problems with the drugs used in children, which no single drug study is ever large enough to find.

Who this study is looking for

The disease began before age 19
Also, they are 21 or younger when they join
Besides that, A parent or guardian can give written consent
Finally, they are willing to be contacted by study staff later

Probably not a fit if: they are over 21 when joining. That is the only published exclusion, and taking part is open regardless of what treatment they have had or are having now.

Placebo group: Neither. It is a register, so there is no randomisation, no dummy and no study drug.
How long: Each young person is followed with a goal of 10 years.
Clinic visits: Not published. Information is collected around ordinary clinic appointments rather than extra visits.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: Minimal. Clinical details, treatments and questionnaires are recorded. No study drug, no drips, no injections, no biopsy and no scans.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: Levine Children’s Hospital, Charlotte NC 28203.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
How we found this: it is filed on the public register under joint disease and carries no lupus tag at all, so a normal lupus search misses it entirely. It is the only paediatric option in either city.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Listed as recruiting, but closed to new people

These read as open and are not. So we separate them rather than counting them in the total.

Listed Nearby, and Not Actually Open

Biogen and UCB / Extensions

Both have a Charlotte address and may read as open. However, each takes only people who already finished a specific earlier study of the same drug.

Long term extensions Closed to new people

Payment is not published.

See if I may fit one of these studies →

More details

Why researchers are excited: we list them so the numbers make sense. Counting them as open doors would overstate what you can reach.

Who this study is looking for

You already completed the parent study of that same drug
Also, you are carrying straight on from it
Besides that, one requires you to have finished within the past 4 weeks
Finally, there is no route in from outside

Probably not a fit if: you were never in the parent study. That is the whole gate, and it is absolute.

Placebo group: None. These are open studies, so everyone gets the real drug and knows it.
How long: Long term, and both run for years.
Clinic visits: Not published on the public record.
Phone calls: Not published on the public record.
Most invasive part: In line with the parent studies.
Setting: Outpatient.
Where it runs: Research sites, Charlotte NC.
Drive from Charlotte: All of these are inside Charlotte itself, so no satellite town drive is involved.
Worth asking about anyway: both feed from drug studies running at the same Charlotte addresses. So if you join a parent study now, this is how you would carry on afterwards.
Full study record: View on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Not sure which one fits you?

First, answer a few quick health questions. Then we check you against every study we track. Also, no account and no paperwork.

✓ Takes just a few minutes✓ No cost, no obligation✓ You are never enrolled by checking

Why This Research Matters Here in Charlotte

Told it is stress, for years, while organs take damage

Bone deep tiredness that sleep does not touch. Joints that ache and swell. A rash across the face after an hour outside. Meanwhile, mouth ulcers, hair coming out, chest pain when you breathe in deeply. So it gets put down to stress or to being run down, because every symptom on that list has a plain cause too. In fact, the kidneys can be quietly taking damage the whole time, because that part causes no symptoms at all.

What is actually being studied here

Concord, Gastonia, Rock Hill, Huntersville, Matthews. Every one of these studies sits inside Charlotte itself, across three research practices and one children’s hospital. However, that is unusually concentrated, and it means a reader in Shelby or Statesville drives in regardless. In fact, no satellite town in this metro carries a single recruiting lupus site.

So why do people here fall behind?

Every symptom has an ordinary explanation. Tiredness, aching joints, a rash. So it gets put down to stress for years before anyone tests for it.
The kidney damage is silent. It causes no symptoms until it is advanced. However, a simple urine test finds it early, and it is often skipped.
It falls hardest on this catchment. Lupus is more common and more severe in Black, Hispanic and Asian people. Meanwhile, this metro has a large affected population.
People are told they are too sick. Several studies exclude you mid flare. Notably, that means the time to ask is while you are stable.
Damage cannot be undone. Activity can be treated, but scarring cannot be reversed. So the years spent undiagnosed are the years that cost most.

Research is a care option, not a last resort

There is a saying in medicine that research is a care option rather than a last resort. Generally, that is the honest way to think about a study. You are not giving up your own doctor. Instead, you are adding a second set of eyes. Notably, two studies here give no drug at all, so joining one changes nothing about your own treatment.

What being on the list actually gets you

This is a directory, not a clinic. So being on the list is simple and it costs nothing.

What you actually get

A call from us the day a new study opens near you
The clinic name and number, so you call them yourself
A check against every other study on our list, not just this one
No cost, and no insurance needed
Roughly $100 a visit for your time, once you are in a study
You are never enrolled by checking

So add it up. Eight studies open inside Charlotte, from a tablet for lupus skin damage to a full cell therapy. Meanwhile, lupus went about fifty years without a single new drug, and the last fifteen have brought real ones. So the question is not whether research is worth a look. Instead, it is whether another year of being told it is stress is.

What Is Actually Changing in Lupus

Fifty years with nothing. Then four drugs, and now a wave of cell therapy.

What Lupus Is Doing

Your immune system is meant to attack germs. In lupus it makes antibodies against your own cell parts instead, most of all against DNA. Those antibodies clump with what they attack, and the clumps lodge in tissue and set off swelling. So because every cell holds the target, lupus can inflame almost any organ, which is why no two people look alike.

There Is No Single Test

Nobody can run one test and tell you that you have lupus. It is a pattern of symptoms, antibodies and sometimes a biopsy. The gate is the ANA test, reported as a ratio such as 1 in 80 or 1 in 160. However, a positive ANA alone means little, because a fair number of healthy people have one. So anti-dsDNA and anti-Sm matter more, since they are far more specific to lupus.

The Numbers to Write Down

Ask for your C3 and C4 complement levels, and ask for them tracked over time rather than read once. Falling levels are a signal of active disease. Ask for your SLEDAI score, which nearly every study here gates on, usually needing 6 or more. Also ask for your BILAG grades, which score each organ from A for severe down to E.

The One Test People Skip

Ask how often your urine is being checked, and ask for the protein to creatinine ratio by name. Kidney involvement in lupus is usually silent until it is advanced, and protein in the urine is often the only early sign. So in active disease that test should be regular rather than yearly. In fact, it is the only early warning system that exists.

Fifty Years With Nothing New

For decades treatment meant an old malaria pill, steroids, and immune drugs borrowed from other illnesses. Then the first drug ever approved for lupus arrived on 9 March 2011, after a gap of about fifty years. A second followed on 2 August 2021, the first to block the interferon path. Meanwhile, that path had been known to matter for two decades with no drug able to reach it.

And a Change in April 2026

On 27 April 2026 that second drug became a weekly pen you use at home, rather than a monthly drip at a clinic. As Susan Manzi of the Allegheny Health Network put it, that makes an important medicine more convenient and accessible for many more patients. So for somebody driving in from Gastonia or Sumter, that is a real change to the shape of a year.

What the Current Wave Is Chasing

The studies opening now are largely cell therapy. The aim is to clear out the cells that make the antibodies, deeply enough that the immune system rebuilds without the disease. Early reports describe people going into remission and off drugs, which is why the money arrived. However, it is unproven at scale and the treatment is hard. Also, a second wave of tablets and new antibodies sits behind it.

Who This Falls On

About nine in ten people with lupus are women, and it is usually diagnosed between roughly 15 and 45. In this country it is more common and more severe in Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native people. So the two cities on this site sit in some of the hardest hit areas in the country. Notably, that makes local access a fairness question, not just a handy one.

Research Sites Near Charlotte

Three research practices and one children’s hospital carry all eight between them, all inside the city. But sites add new studies all the time, so it is worth knowing what sits near you.

Atrium Health

Multiple Charlotte locations / 161+ active studies

Crohn’s, Heart Failure, COPD, Dementia, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension

Charlotte’s biggest health system. It is tied to Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Also, it runs far more trials than anyone else nearby.

American Health Research Network

Ballantyne, NC 28277 / 25 to 30+ active studies

Asthma, COPD, Chronic Cough, Type 2 Diabetes

Led by Dr. Selwyn Spangenthal. It is the biggest private lung research group in Charlotte. Specifically, it has 4 offices: Charlotte, Rock Hill, Lake Norman, and Charleston.

Monroe Biomedical Research

Monroe, NC / 17+ active studies

Asthma, COPD, Hypertension, Obesity, Ulcerative Colitis

Notably, one of the 5 busiest research sites in the country. Its 6,300 sq ft space can host overnight stays. It is also an SCRS Global Impact Partner.

Clinical Research of Gastonia

Gastonia, NC / 11+ active studies

Asthma, COPD, Chronic Cough, Idiopathic Hypersomnia

Led by Dr. Anup Banerjee. Its 3,500 sq ft space sits next to CaroMont Regional Medical Center. Also, it has been running for over 10 years.

OnSite Clinical Solutions

Ballantyne, NC 28277 / 10+ active studies

Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s, COPD, Heart Failure, Atopic Dermatitis

It works with Charlotte doctors in heart, gut, skin, nerve, and joint care. Besides, it runs studies from Phase I through Phase IV.

Flourish Research

Matthews, NC 28105 / 4+ active studies

Alzheimer’s Disease, Early Alzheimer’s, Alzheimer’s-Related Psychosis

Led by Dr. M. Reza Bolouri. He has 20+ years in Alzheimer’s research. The site is an Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence. In fact, its network has finished 5,500+ trials.

New Hope Clinical Research

SouthPark, NC 28211 / 4+ active studies

Major Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder

Led by Dr. Kurian Abraham. It runs Phase I through IV studies and has 30 beds for overnight stays. Its last FDA audit came back clean. Also, it has finished 200+ brain studies.

Queen City Clinical Research

SouthPark, NC 28211 / 2+ active studies

Chronic Pain, Chronic Migraine, Osteoarthritis

Led by Dr. Leonardo Kapural, a former Cleveland Clinic professor. Notably, he has written 200+ journal articles. On top of that, many call this the biggest pain research site in the country.

Novant Health

Multiple Charlotte locations / Several active studies

Cardiovascular Disease, Obesity, Hypertension

One of the biggest health systems in the Carolinas. Its Heart and Vascular Institute runs heart studies and sees a lot of patients.

DLVSC

4 Charlotte-area offices / 1+ active studies

Eczema, Psoriasis, Rosacea

Led by Dr. Gilly Munavalli. This award-winning skin practice owns 50+ FDA-approved lasers and devices. Also, it has its own research team.

DelRicht Research

South Charlotte, NC 28210 / 1+ active studies

Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Depression

Part of a national network of mental health research sites. Currently, it runs the azetukalner bipolar depression trial in Charlotte. Previously, it ran other mental health studies.

TMS of the Carolinas

South Charlotte, NC 28210 / 1+ active studies

Major Depression, Treatment-Resistant Depression

A specialty site for brain stimulation care. It runs the fast TMS study that packs 6 weeks into 2.