From precision medicine to potential cures: B-cell depletion, CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific T-cell engagers at EULAR 2026

The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Congress 2026, held in London, UK, from 3–6 June 2026, brought together rheumatology experts from around the world to share the latest advances in research and clinical care.

In this Q&A, Editorial Board Member Dr Alina Dima (Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest), discusses her key highlights from the meeting, reflecting on emerging approaches to patient stratification in connective tissue diseases, promising B-cell-targeted therapies and progress towards achieving long-term remission. Dr Dima also shares insights into new research in systemic sclerosis and the collaborative networking opportunities offered by EULAR.

Questions

1. What were your personal highlights from this year’s EULAR meeting? (0:20)
2. Did you learn about any new treatments or diagnostic approaches that could change rheumatology care? (0:57)
3. What challenges in managing rheumatic diseases stood out during the sessions? (2:02)
4. Which areas of research or care need the most attention moving forward? (3:03)
5. What networking opportunities were available at the conference? (4:00)

touchIMMUNOLOGY coverage of EULAR 2026

Transcript

Hello, I’m Alina Dima, a medical doctor in Bucharest. My affiliation is Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy as well as Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest.

What were your personal highlights from this year’s EULAR meeting?

I think that one of my highlights is the growing interest for stratification of patients subsetting connective tissue diseases. So I find it impressive the progress made, for example, in Sjogren’s syndrome where genotyping together with clinical and laboratory data might identify patients who has a specific phenotype of disease and this is very important to identify a specific subset of patients that might respond to more targeted therapies.

Did you learn about any new treatments or diagnostic approaches that could change rheumatology care?

In connective tissue diseases, B cell depletion is an area of active research and we easily understand why if we consider the central role of B cells in autoimmune disease pathogenicity. Therefore, the bispecific T cell engager, immunotherapeutics, direct a patient’s own T cells toward the specific target cells like B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and CD3 positive T cells proposing systemic sclerosis. This therapy might potentially eliminate pathogenic B cell populations in a selective manner, which is, of course, preferable to broadly suppressing the immune system. Further, telitacicept is proposing in Sjogren’s syndrome a fusion protein that simultaneously neutralizes two main cytokines, the B cell activating factor of BAFF, as well as the proliferation inducing ligand to APRIL.

What challenges in managing rheumatic diseases stood out during the sessions?

The main challenge in almost all rheumatic diseases is to make the conceptual transition from sustained remission to the possibility of curing these diseases. I would say here that the CD19 directed CAR T cell therapy achieves a deeper depletion of B cells, including memory B cells, than the conventional CD20 targeted therapies. This may allow an immune reset, we hope, and long term drug free remission. A case was presented with five years of sustained remission. Of course, these results are promising, raising the possibility of a cure; however, we might say that disease recurrence may still occur in genetically susceptible individuals.

Which areas of research or care need the most attention moving forward?

There were many important results presented at the congress. One highlight for me was the emerging data on nerandomilast in systemic sclerosis. Nerandomilast is a preferential phosphodiesterase 4B inhibitor that we know has antifibrotic and immunomodulatory effects. What is interesting is that it might have also vascular effects. Potentially, in this case, it might also target major components of systemic sclerosis pathogenesis. More importantly, it has shown promising results on clinically meaningful outcomes and possibly even on mortality.

What networking opportunities were available at the conference?

EULAR offers a lot of exceptional networking opportunities, including from the scientific point of view, the meet the expert sessions. I had the opportunity to participate in two scheduled face-to-face meetings; one involving the EULAR task force and another with the colleagues from different EUSTAR centers. I also attended an event organized by the Association of Women in Rheumatology, which was a completely new experience for me. Even in my country, particularly in the field of rheumatology, I don’t perceive gender disparities, it was a great opportunity to meet colleagues from different backgrounds and career stages. So it was really cool.