Aurinia Pharma gains after Q1 beat and guidance raise

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) shares spiked in the pre-market Thursday after the Canadian biotech posted a strong revenue beat with its Q1 2023 financials and increased its outlook for 2023 amid a strong uptake for its lupus nephritis therapy Lupkynis.

The company reported $34.4M revenue for the period with ~59% YoY growth exceeding Street forecasts by as much as $6.3M, driven by an increased net product revenue from its two main customers for Lupkynis.

AUPH recorded 466 new patient start forms (PSFs) during the quarter marking a 1% and 15% rise from Q1 2022 and Q4 2022, respectively. PSFs for the year reached 604 through April 28, 2023, while patients on Lupkynis stood at 1,731 at the end of the quarter, up from 1,071 at the end of Q2 2022.

“With our continued focus on commercial execution, we saw the impact of our marketing and selling efforts directly in the quarter,” Chief Executive Peter Greenleaf remarked.

However, the company’s SG&A expenses, including share-based compensation, rose ~11% YoY to $50.1M while net loss narrowed by ~30% YoY to $26.2M. Meanwhile, cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash stood at $89.0M, indicating a ~6% drop from 2022 year-end.

Citing current trends in the market and its pricing assumptions for Lupkynis, Aurinia (AUPH) raised its full-year outlook for net product revenue to $135M –$155M from $120M - $140M compared to $142.7M in the consensus.

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