MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 12, 2011 /CNW/ - For the first time in almost 50 years Canadians living with lupus have a new treatment option. Health Canada has approved BENLYSTATM (belimumab), a new drug specific for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or simply lupus). The announcement was made today by GlaxoSmithKline Inc. (GSK) and Human Genome Sciences (HGS) who are developing BENLYSTATM under a co-development and co-commercialization agreement entered into in 2006. BENLYSTATM is expected to become available to patients in Canada in September of this year.