Belimumab (Benlysta) - 2011
After more than 50 years without a new lupus drug, the FDA approved GlaxoSmithKline's belimumab, an injectable monoclonal antibody, for systemic lupus erythematosus.
Belimumab became the first new lupus treatment in five decades.
It proved lupus drug development was possible and opened the door for later approvals.
Shows how rare lupus approvals are and how significant a new one would be.
