Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (TSX:AUP)(NASDAQ:AUPH) rocketed ahead to a five-year high this morning, with Toronto-listed shares printing $8.00 per share on upbeat top-line results from a mid-stage trial of its experimental lupus nephritis drug voclosporin. Shares popped at the opening bell after the news was released following Monday’s closing bell.
Lupus nephritis is a complication of the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus for short, characterized by inflammation of the kidney.
The latest data is from a 48-week analysis following an initial readout from a Phase 2b trial last year. At 48 weeks, the trial met the complete remission (CR) and partial remission (PR) endpoints, demonstrating statistically significantly greater CR and PR in patients in both low-dose and high-dose cohorts versus the control group.
49% of patients treated with the low dose of voclosporin achieved a complete renal response, versus only 24% of patients on placebo. More importantly, the latest data helped remove a dark safety cloud looming over voclosporin that was created during the initial data release in August.
Shares have slipped from $8.00 high, but are still up about 39% at $6.85 at the lunch break.
