Aurinia is up 25% on voclosporin win; expects net revenue at $65K per patient
Jan. 25, 2021 10:52 AM ETAurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AUPH)AUPHBy: Dulan Lokuwithana, SA News Editor55 Comments
- Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) has surged ~24.5% in response to its late Friday announcement of FDA approval for LUPKYNIS (voclosporin) for adults with active lupus nephritis.
- In a conference call arranged to discuss the regulatory win, the company estimated that the average annualized net revenue from the treatment could be ~$65K per patient after accounting for rebates, channel discounts, and anticipated patient adherence.
- Considered as a rare disease lupus nephritis affects nearly a third of people diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus estimated at ~200 – 300K patients in the U.S. alone.
- The company has already completed the pre-approval information exchange with more than 50 payers covering two-thirds of commercially insured lives.
- With the in-person and virtual launch of voclosporin taking place in 2021, Aurinia projects a peak annual U.S. net sales of more than $1B from the therapy.
- The company has a collaboration and license agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical for the development and commercialization of oral voclosporin in countries outside the U.S.
- And ‘receiving 10% to 20% royalties on EU and Japanese net revenues will be meaningful’ for the company topline argues Seeking Alpha contributor Amit Ghate in a bullish thesis on the stock.