Sahil Dhingra's questions to Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (AUPH) leadership • Q1 2025
Question
Sahil Dhingra, on behalf of Doug Miehm, asked about the SG&A expense, which was lower than modeled, questioning if there were one-time items and how to think about the expense going forward. He also asked about the potential market impact of Roche's Gazyva on LUPKYNIS adoption, given its upcoming PDUFA date.
Answer
CFO Joe Miller explained that while there was a small stock-based compensation true-up, the SG&A was not otherwise unusual and reflects the benefit of the November restructuring, keeping the company on track for its $40M cash OpEx savings goal. On Gazyva, CEO Peter Greenleaf and CMO Dr. Greg Keenan welcomed more players to grow the market. They positioned LUPKYNIS as highly competitive due to its rapid speed of response, which aligns with new ACR guidelines, contrasting with the slower onset of B-cell agents.