Prelim. AURION Phase 2 Results Show Aurinia Pharma's (AUPH) Voclosporin is Viable in LN - FBR

FBR & Co. reaffirms Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: AUPH) with an Outperform rating and $9 price target after the company announced that it has completed a preliminary analysis of its AURION (Aurinia early Urinary protein Reduction Predicts Response) study.

Analyst Vernon Bernardino commented: This morning, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced preliminary analysis of its AURION Phase II study with voclosporin in patients with lupus nephritis (LN), a life-threatening disease that affects an estimated 5 million people worldwide. As a reminder, AURION is being conducted as an open-label study to assess the predictive value of an early reduction in proteinuria voclosporin-treated LN patients. A 25% reduction in proteinuria (i.e., abnormal quantities of protein in urine) has been shown to be predictive of a positive clinical response at 24 weeks. In the first seven patients receiving at least eight weeks of voclosporin, 100% (7/7) achieved at least a 25% reduction in proteinuria, with an overall mean reduction of 72% compared to pretreatment levels.

We view the results as positive and validation that voclosporin has strong potential to modify the course of this disease and be the first therapy indicated for use to treat LN. These results also bolster our expectations for positive 24-week primary endpoint data from the AURA-LV Phase IIb trial, which are expected to be announced this summer. We believe this announcement could be a significant catalyst and, thus, would be buyers ahead of the news and reiterate our Outperform rating on the stock, Bernardino concluded.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals click here. For more ratings news on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals click here.

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