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SEC filingAurinia accelerated profitability with operating income nearly doubling YoY to $41.4M, driven by LUPKYNIS market penetration via higher specialty pharmacy sales and cost efficiencies from 2024 restructuring, yielding strong cash generation from operations.
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals reported robust Q1 2026 results, with revenue of $77.7 million reflecting 24% year-over-year growth. This increase stems primarily from higher volumes of LUPKYNIS cartons sold to specialty pharmacies, driven by continued penetration in the lupus nephritis market. Offsetting this was a decline in lower-margin sales of LUPKYNIS inventory to Otsuka under their commercial supply agreement, which positively impacted overall profitability.
Gross profit expanded 32% to $71.2 million, lifting the gross margin to 91.6%. The margin improvement results directly from the reduced proportion of low-margin Otsuka inventory sales in the revenue mix. This shift underscores the benefits of focusing on higher-margin commercial channels while maintaining the Otsuka partnership for manufacturing services and Monoplant capacity sharing, which enhances production efficiency and supply security for voclosporin.
Operating income more than doubled to $41.4 million, achieving a 53% operating margin—more than double the prior year's. Key to this was a decrease in SG&A non-personnel expenses, driven by lower professional fees and services following strategic restructuring in late 2024. These cost disciplines, combined with gross margin leverage, demonstrate effective operational execution amid expanding market presence.