Aker BioMarine partnership seeks to battle lupus with krill oil

30 Aug 2018 --- Aker BioMarine and Lupus Research Alliance have partnered to launch a new clinical study investigating how phospholipid-rich krill oil can benefit people with lupus, with the aim to lessen the severity of symptoms associated with the disease. The trial will include 76 people diagnosed with lupus from 20 different research centers, and each participant will each be given daily doses of phospholipid-rich krill oil over 12 months. The results are to be expected in 2020.

“Our planet is 70 percent oceans, yet only half a percent of all the medicines in the world are coming from the oceans. It is obvious that many solutions to the big medical riddles must come from the oceans. We are so excited that molecules from krill can potentially reduce the symptoms associated with lupus,” says Matts Johansen, CEO at Aker BioMarine. 

“There has been only one new drug developed to treat lupus in 60 years, which is why we are going all in to dedicate our resources to try to provide a natural alternative for people with lupus,” adds Johansen.

Affecting an estimated five million people worldwide, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), better known as lupus, is an incurable and chronic autoimmune disease where your body’s immune system attacks your tissue and organs. 

The disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 45, and 90 percent of people with lupus are female. The most common symptoms are often inflammation, swelling, severe fatigue and skin rashes. Complications can include damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart and lungs. 

Too little headway has been made in the search for new drugs or biological products that can help people with lupus. This issue was acutely highlighted by the Lupus Research Alliance’s Lupus Drug Repositioning Program, launched in 2014, which Aker BioMarine joined. The need for new treatments is also why Kenneth Farber, President and CEO of the Lupus Research Alliance, considers this new study so important: “We are very pleased to work with Aker BioMarine on bringing a potential therapeutic option to people with lupus,” notes Farber. “The company is thoroughly testing the effectiveness of krill for this group of patients through well-designed scientifically rigorous clinical studies.” 

“To advance lupus research, we need partners willing to invest and dedicate themselves to our common goal. In Aker BioMarine we have found such partner and we are very excited to see the potential impacts of krill for people with lupus,” says Albert T. Roy, Executive Director, Lupus Therapeutics LLC, Lupus Clinical Investigators Network.