Among the approximately 500,000 people in the United States affected by lupus nephritis each year, most are women. The disease appears in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Aurinia (Victoria, British Columbia) recently launched an educational campaign about lupus nephritis, called ALL IN, to increase support and awareness of the disease. The company’s first offering is a website for patients and families, www.allinforlupusnephritis.com, which provides a community support page, information about lupus nephritis and its management, and other resources. To date, no therapy specifically for lupus nephritis has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Aurinia is in phase 3 clinical trials with an immunosuppressant therapy called Voclosporin, an investigational drug that is a novel calcineurin inhibitor. The trial includes clinical data for over 2400 patients, across indications including lupus nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and dry eye syndrome.
The current standard of care is to use mycophenolate mofetil or low-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide plus glucocorticoids as the initial treatment for patients with class III–IV disease.
Voclosporin has the potential to improve near- and long-term outcomes in lupus nephritis when added to mycophenolate mofetil, the company notes on its website. The drug provides a latching section on its molecule that forms a complex with cyclophilin A that then binds to and inhibits calcineurin. The binding affinities of Voclosporin and cyclosporine A for cyclophilin are comparable; however, upon binding, the ethynyl side chain of Voclosporin induces structural changes in calcineurin that may result in increased immunosuppressive activity compared to cyclosporine A, Aurinia reports on its website.