. 
 the baff / april axis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases including sle ; inhibitors of this axis are therefore useful in treatment of these disordersresults from bliss-52 and bliss-76 trials have shown belimumab to be efficacious in treating patients with sleserious adverse effects noted with belimumab such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy , depression , suicidal tendency , and malignancy are to be watched for . the baff / april axis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases including sle ; inhibitors of this axis are therefore useful in treatment of these disorders results from bliss-52 and bliss-76 trials have shown belimumab to be efficacious in treating patients with sle serious adverse effects noted with belimumab such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy , depression , suicidal tendency , and malignancy are to be watched for . . 
 the baff / april axis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases including sle ; inhibitors of this axis are therefore useful in treatment of these disordersresults from bliss-52 and bliss-76 trials have shown belimumab to be efficacious in treating patients with sleserious adverse effects noted with belimumab such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy , depression , suicidal tendency , and malignancy are to be watched for . the baff / april axis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases including sle ; inhibitors of this axis are therefore useful in treatment of these disorders results from bliss-52 and bliss-76 trials have shown belimumab to be efficacious in treating patients with sle serious adverse effects noted with belimumab such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy , depression , suicidal tendency , and malignancy are to be watched for .
belimumab is the only approved biological agent for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus ( sle ) . 
 it is a fully humanized igg1 monoclonal antibody directed against soluble b lymphocyte stimulator ( blys ) . 
 it is indicated as an add - on therapy for the treatment of adult patients with active , autoantibody - positive sle , who are receiving standard therapy . 
 belimumab is generally well - tolerated , common adverse effects include infections , infusion reactions , hypersensitivity , headache , nausea , and fatigue . psychiatric events including suicidal tendency , progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and malignancies too have been reported . 
 apart from sle , the drug is also being tried for other autoimmune disorders .