Emerging treatment for Sjögren's disease: a review of recent phase II and III trials

Introduction: Sjögren's Disease, SjD, is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by reduced function of the salivary and lacrimal glands. Patients suffer from dryness, fatigue, and pain and may present with or without extra-glandular organ involvement. Symptoms limit SjD patients' quality of life and are the most difficult to improve with therapy. SjD patients are heterogeneous and clustering them into biologically similar subgroups might improve the efficacy of therapies. The need for therapies that address both the symptoms and extra glandular organ involvement of SjD presents an unmet opportunity that has recently attracted a growing interest in the pharmaceutical industry.

Areas covered: The goal of this report is to review recent phase II/III studies in SjD. To accomplish our goal, we performed a literature search for phase II/III studies and abstracts recently presented at conferences.

Expert opinion: This review allows updates the reader on the multitude of recent phase II/III clinical trials. We speculate on how subtypes of SjD will drive future therapeutic targeting and inform pathogenesis.