CURRENT TREATMENTS FOR AUTOIMMUNE MYOSITIS

Burden of current treatments

Current treatments can add substantially to patient burden, through time-intensive administration (e.g., infusions)1 and cumulative side effects such as osteoporosis and diabetes.2 These effects can disrupt daily life and force ongoing lifestyle adjustments to prevent or manage complications.1–3 

Guidelines recognize significant challenges with established therapies5

Autoimmune myositis (AIM) is a progressive disease, necessitating long-term treatment to maintain disease control.5,6

Treatment often requires corticosteroids and immunosuppressive therapies, but guidance aims to reduce steroid burden and monitor adverse effects of immunosuppressive medication.2,6,7 Some current therapies carry boxed warnings for adverse events including malignancies and serious infections, highlighting a need for novel treatments.4,8-10

Treatment burden extends beyond tolerability3

Beyond the immediate problems of treatment side effects and tolerability, current treatments can substantially add to the patient burden. Reducing treatment burden remains an important unmet need.2,3

Blue and white ceramic IV bag ornament placed on a wooden surface.

Treatment burden extends beyond disease burden, because treatment mode of administration and cumulative toxicity can meaningfully affect patients’ day-to-day lives.2,3

Blue and white ceramic medicine bottle with anatomical muscle-pattern decoration beside a blue-and-white capsule on a wooden surface.

Long-term steroid exposure carries a fourfold higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and can cause various adverse events such as bone loss, cardiovascular events, and infections.2

Blue and white ceramic figurine of a person walking with a cane on a wooden surface.

These treatment-related sequelae can further reduce independence, ability to work, and overall quality of life, adding to the underlying burden of living with AIM.3,11

Blue and white ceramic IV bag ornament placed on a wooden surface.

Time-intensive administration can disrupt routines, particularly for infusion-based therapies that may require repeated visits, travel, time away from work or school, caregiver coordination, and monitoring during or after treatment.1,3

Continue exploring current treatments for AIM

Current treatments for AIM have several limitations, and few are specifically approved for AIM, highlighting a need for new treatment options.2,4,5 Explore how unmet needs and lack of targeted therapies pose a challenge in treating AIM.4

Unmet needs

Learn how lack of disease control leads to irreversible damage accrual.3

Explore unmet needs
Lack of targeted treatments

Learn about the unmet need for immunomodulators that selectively target disease drivers.12

Explore lack of targeted treatments

Abbreviations:
AIM, autoimmune myositis; GI, gastrointestinal; IVIg, intravenous immunoglobulin; SmPC, Summary of Product Characteristics.

References:
1. Chérin P, et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Feb 14;99(7):e19012; 2. Aggarwal R, et al. Clin Rheumatol. 2025;44:4169–4178; 3. Oldroyd, et al. BMC Rheumatol. 2020;4:47; 4. Lundberg IE, et al. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2021;7(1):86; 5. Paik J, et al. Rheumatology. 2025;64:3288–3302; 6. Oldroyd AS, et al. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2022;61(5):1760–8; 7. Enders FB, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Feb;76(2):329-340; 8. PROGRAF (tacrolimus) prescribing information. U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Astellas. 2021; 9. CELLCEPT (mycophenolate mofetil) prescribing information. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2018; 10. RITUXAN (rituximab) prescribing information. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2021; 11. Peng Z, et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024;63:1113-1122; 12. Groener M, et al. Front Immunol. 2025;16:1581323.