Here's Why Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Soared 35% Today

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc AUPH, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses in the field of nephrology and autoimmunity saw its stock soar by more than 35 percent Thursday morning.

Aurinia announced Thursday morning data from a 24-week clinical study called AURION, short for "Aurinia Early Urinary Protein Reduction Predicts Response Study."

The open-label exploratory study consisted of 10 patients suffering from active lupus nephritisand and assessed the short-term predictors of response using the company's voclosporin (in a 23.7mg dose) in combination with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and oral corticosteroids.

The study found that 70 percent of the patients achieved complete remission at 24 weeks.

Shares traded recently at $5.19, up 28 percent.

Here are the full details of the study:

"In this study, 70% (7/10) patients achieved complete remission (CR) at 24 weeks as measured by a urinary protein creatinine ratio (UPCR) of ≤ 0.5mg/mg, eGFR within 20% of baseline and concomitant steroid dose of <5mg/day. Of the 10 patients that achieved a reduction of UPCR of ≥ 25% at 8 weeks, 80% were responders (≥ 50% reduction in UPCR over baseline) at 24 weeks and 70% were in CR at 24 weeks. In addition, inflammatory markers such as C3, C4 and anti-dsDNA all continued to normalize to 24 weeks. Voclosporin was well-tolerated with no unexpected safety signals observed."

"The results of AURION provide further proof of concept data to support voclosporin's use in the treatment of active LN and continue to indicate that 23.7mg BID is the optimal dose to advance into our phase III program," said Neil Solomons, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Aurinia in the press release. "We are encouraged by our ability to quickly predict responses and remission rates in these patients, which can help clinicians optimize patient care and long-term outcomes."