Baocheng Liu,1,* Yaqi Zhao,2,* Dongxia Liu,1 Xinya Li,1 Zhenzhen Ma,1,2 Qingrui Yang1,2 

1Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, 250021, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Zhenzhen Ma; Qingrui Yang, Email mazhenzhendz@163.com; qryang720@163.com

Introduction: Humoral immunity plays a key role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, and B-lymphocyte activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) are essential for the maintenance of B-lymphocyte reservoirs and humoral immunity. In March 2021, telitacicept, the world’s first dual target three-channel biologic, was approved in China for the treatment of SLE and is currently in clinical trials exploring multiple indications for other autoimmune diseases.
Areas Covered: This article summarizes the mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, and clinical efficacy of telitacicept for the treatment of multiple autoimmune diseases.
Expert Opinion: So far, the efficacy and safety of telitacicept in autoimmune diseases have been fully demonstrated in clinical practice. There are still many unresolved issues regarding the timing of initiation and discontinuation, still needs to be evaluated in future studies.

Keywords: biological therapy, autoimmune disease, B lymphocytes, telitacicept, immunology