Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (AUPH)

[moosedogger]

Here's Corey in 2018 being bullish on Aurinia

He was in Jekyll mode then; today he is Mr. Hyde


Cory Renauer (Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc.): This clinical-stage biotech stock isn't too popular on Wall Street, but a recent addition to the popular iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology index and corresponding exchange-traded fund could change that.

Institutions might temporarily push up Aurinia's stock price as they acquire enough shares to represent its index weighting, but a rare-disease drug candidate in late-stage development could really send it soaring. The company's lead candidate, voclosporin, looks like a huge improvement for roughly half a million Americans living with lupus nephritis (LN), an autoimmune disease that can lead to fatal kidney damage.

There aren't any drugs specifically approved to treat LN Calcineurin inhibitors limit LN activity, but maintaining a blood concentration high enough to be effective but low enough to avoid harmful side effects is difficult. More effective with less side effects has always been a recipe for drugmaker success, and Aurinia's voclosporin appears to tick both boxes.

Most notably, voclosporin led to a higher rate of complete disease remission ever recorded during a midstage LN trial. That gives the drug $1-billion-plus peak annual sales potential, and makes Aurina a top stock to watch in 2018.