The new generation of B cell–targeting therapies for the treatment of autoimmune kidney diseases

Over the last 25 years, the success of rituximab, the first B cell– depleting monoclonal antibody (mAb), has lent support to the notion that B cells are involved in most if not all autoimmune diseases. The efficacy of this treatment, however, is not uniform across diseases and patients, which may be due to a variable role of B cells or to insufficient B-cell targeting. This has fuelled the search for alternative therapies with a B cell–depleting or B cell–modulating effect. Here we discuss the main aspects of Bcell involvement in autoimmune kidney diseases and present the new B cell–targeting therapies used in the management of these conditions.