With lupus nephritis med Lupkynis under its belt, Canadian biopharma Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is shelling out $7 million for two new preclinical assets to build out the next phase of its pipeline.
Aurinia received an FDA nod for Lupkynis seven months ago. Now, the company has acquired Thunderbolt Pharma and inked a global licensing and research agreement with Riptide Bioscience to grow beyond Lupkynis, according to a Tuesday statement.
The deal includes a novel peptide therapeutic from Riptide that could have clinical applications in autoimmune and fibrotic diseases. The Canadian biopharma paid an upfront fee of $6 million and will dish out biobucks and royalties. AUR300 is slated to enter the clinic in the first half of 2023.
AUR300 modulates a type of white blood cells called M2 macrophages. Dysregulation of those cells is an important factor in causing fibrosis. The asset aims to reduce that dysregulation and limit inflammatory cytokines, Aurinia said.
As for Thunderbolt, Aurinia paid $750,000 upfront to the private company's shareholders and snagged AUR200, a recombinant Fc fusion protein that is meant to block two important players in the development of certain autoimmune and nephrology conditions. The preclinical asset targets B-cell Activating Factor, BAFF, and A Proliferation-inducing Ligand, or APRIL. The company hopes to file for an initial clinical trial by the end of next year.
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These two assets will help diversify Aurinia's pipeline through large and small molecule expertise, said Aurinia CEO and President Peter Greenleaf in a statement.
AUR200 and AUR300 come as Aurinia moves to get Lupkynis approved in other regions. The company's licensing partner Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe filed Lupkynis, or voclosporin, for approval with the European Medicines Agency in late June.
Otsuka paid Aurinia $50 million upfront, with the potential for up to $50 million more, for the development and commercialization of voclosporin in the EU, Japan, UK, Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Belarus, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Ukraine.