Is Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock a Buy?
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AUPH) has a big year ahead. The Canadian biopharmaceutical company plans on submitting a New Drug Application for what could become its first marketed drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it expects to report data on its phase 2/3 trial for what eventually may become its second product on the market. Revenue sources are on the horizon, and that is one good reason to buy the stock now. Another reason is a bet on a takeover by a larger pharmaceutical company eager to get its hands on new products.
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So let's talk products, and therefore revenue, first. Aurinia has developed voclosporin for the treatment of lupus nephritis. As many as 1.5 million Americans suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease primarily affecting women that causes inflammation in connective tissues. According to the Lupus Foundation of America, up to 60% of those patients will develop lupus nephritis, or an inflammation of the kidneys that, if uncontrolled, can lead to kidney failure and even death. Aurinia's voclosporin is an immunosuppressant and therefore blocks immune system responses when, in cases like lupus, those responses are destructive. The compound was given in combination with immunosuppressant mycophenolate mofetil and low-dose corticosteroids, and trial results showed voclosporin could increase the speed of kidney response rates. Currently, the standard treatment is mycophenolate mofetil or another immunosuppressant taken alone.
Source Fool.com