A Victoria pharmaceutical company spoke Thursday and the world took notice.
Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceutical rose sharply through massive trading volume, after the company announced positive results from clinical trials for its treatment of lupus nephritis with its drug voclosporin.
Aurinia shares closed up nearly 26 per cent at $5.10 US on the Nasdaq composite stock exchange, with more than 30 million shares changing hands.
Calling results of a second phase trial a “significant clinical finding,” Aurinia co-founder Richard Glickman said the company has laid the groundwork to change the landscape for how patients are treated.
Lupus nephritis is a severe autoimmune disease affecting the kidneys. It affects as many as three million people globally.
“The level of interest in this company globally is striking,” Glickman said. “The response in the marketplace has been quite exciting because when you have a drug that works in a tough-to-treat disease, that has a lot of opportunity that has not been met, people take notice.”
The data released show that in a study of 10 patients with lupus nephritis, seven achieved complete remission at 24 weeks. The study also said voclosporin “was well-tolerated with no unexpected safety signals observed.”
Charlie Rowland, Aurinia’s chief executive, said the second-phase trial “has given us a lot of confidence that the drug works.”
He said the drug hit both its primary end point and secondary end points through the study, and is ready to head into a third phase of clinical trials early next year.
“The next big thing for us is getting feedback from the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] and initiating phase three,” he said. “We are still two years away from market.”
The team behind Aurinia also launched Aspreva Pharmaceuticals. That company sold in 2007 for $915 million.
Glickman said there’s reason to believe Aurinia will be more successful.
“What we have here right now with Aurinia is something that will turn out to be significantly larger — both from a patient-value proposition, but also from a financial [perspective],” he said, adding that it could be a tool for physicians who currently don’t have many options to treat the disease.
“A drug that can interfere with the disease process is incredibly important.”
