Known as Benlysta, the injectable drug is designed to treat flare-ups and pain caused by lupus, a little-understood disorder in which the body attacks its own tissue and organs.
Biotech drugmaker Human Genome Sciences spent 15 years developing Benlysta and will co-market it with GlaxoSmithKline.
But experts stress that Benlysta is not a miracle drug: It only worked in a subset of patients and was not effective against the deadliest forms of the disease. Additionally, it did not work in African Americans, who are disproportionately affected by lupus.
