PRESERVE: LUPKYNIS in Combination With Belimumab, Obinutuzumab or Anifrolumab in Patients With Lupus Nephritis

May 20, 2026 updated by: Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc.

PRESERVE: A Multi-Center Phase 4 Study of the Efficacy and Safety of LUPKYNIS in Combination With Belimumab, Obinutuzumab or Anifrolumab at Inducing Rapid Renal Response in Patients With Lupus Nephritis

The goal of this clinical study is to assess the efficacy and safety of LUPKYNIS® in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab at inducing rapid renal response in patients with lupus nephritis (LN).

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients with LN will be administered LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab. Additionally, patients will receive treatment with a mycophenolic acid analog (MPAA), specifically mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or mycophenolic acid (MPA), and oral prednisone (or equivalent).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

150

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Alamitos, California, United States, 90720
        • Recruiting
        • Valerius Medical Group & Research Center of Greater Long Beach, Inc.
        • Contact:
    • Florida
      • Jacksonville, Florida, United States, 32257
      • Orlando, Florida, United States, 32806
    • Louisiana
      • Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States, 70605
    • North Carolina
      • Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28204
        • Recruiting
        • Joint and Muscle Research Institute
        • Contact:
      • Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28202
        • Recruiting
        • Arthritis and Osteoporosis Consultants of the Carolinas
        • Contact:
    • Tennessee
      • Jackson, Tennessee, United States, 38305
    • Texas
      • Dallas, Texas, United States, 75230
      • Plano, Texas, United States, 75024
        • Recruiting
        • Texas Rheumatology Research Institute, LLC
        • Contact:
      • Van Vleck, Texas, United States, 77482
        • Recruiting
        • Nephrology Leaders and Associates, PLLC
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Key Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults 18-75 years old
  • Diagnosed with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis (LN) according to the 2003 International Society of Nephrology (ISN) / Renal Pathology Society (RPS) (class III, class IV, class III/V or class IV/V)
  • Urine protein-to-creatine ratio (UPCR) ≥0.5 g/g and <5.0 g/g from a first morning void (FMV) urine sample
  • Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of ≥45 mL/min/1.73 m2

  • Concomitant biologic:

    • Patients on the belimumab or anifrolumab treatment regimens are receiving belimumab or anifrolumab (as applicable) prior to Screening or will initiate belimumab or anifrolumab (as applicable) on or before Day 1.
    • Patients on the obinutuzumab treatment regimen must have received at least 2 administrations of obinutuzumab prior to Screening.
  • Willing to take mycophenolic acid analog (MPAA), either by continuing current MPAA therapy or by initiating it on or before Day 1
  • Willing to take corticosteroids, either by continuing current corticosteroids (prednisone [or equivalent]) or by initiating on or before Day 1

Key Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any B cell targeted therapy except for the concomitant biologics (belimumab and obinutuzumab) within 1 year prior to Screening unless demonstration of B cell count within the normal range
  • Cyclophosphamide or any calcineurin inhibitor other than voclosporin (eg, cyclosporine and tacrolimus) within 3 months prior to Screening

  • Any other immunosuppressive therapy except for the concomitant drugs (anifrolumab, MPAAs and oral prednisone [or equivalent]) and immunosuppressive agents used to treat a patient's underlying systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), including, but not limited to, the examples below, within 30 days or 5 half-lives, whichever is longer, prior to Screening:

    • Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy (eg, adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab)
    • Anti-interleukin therapy (eg, risankizumab, secukinumab, ixekizumab, ustekinumab, guselkumab, tocilizumab, dupilumab)
    • T cell costimulation modulator (eg, abatacept)
    • Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg)
    • Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors (eg, upadacitinib)
  • Pregnant, breastfeeding or intending to become pregnant during the Study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab
Patients will also receive concomitant mycophenolic acid analog and corticosteroids.
Drug: LUPKYNIS
voclosporin
Biological: belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab
BENLYSTA (belimumab), GAZYVA (obinutuzumab) or SAPHNELO (anifrolumab)
Drug: mycophenolic acid analog (MPAA)
CELLCEPT (mycophenolate mofetil [MMF]) or MYFORTIC (mycophenolic acid [MPA])
Drug: corticosteroid
prednisone (or equivalent)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To assess the efficacy of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab at inducing rapid renal response: Proportion of patients with complete renal response at 24 weeks
Time Frame: 24 weeks
24 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To assess the safety of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab: Incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events
Time Frame: From baseline to study completion, up to 28 weeks
From baseline to study completion, up to 28 weeks
To assess the efficacy of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab at inducing rapid renal response: Proportion of patients with partial renal response at 24 weeks
Time Frame: 24 weeks
24 weeks
To assess the efficacy of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab at inducing rapid renal response: Proportion of patients with deep renal response rate at 24 weeks
Time Frame: 24 weeks
24 weeks
To assess the time to reach efficacy endpoints of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab: Time to complete renal response
Time Frame: From baseline to complete renal response, up to 24 weeks
From baseline to complete renal response, up to 24 weeks
To assess the time to reach efficacy endpoints of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab: Time to partial renal response
Time Frame: From baseline to partial renal response, up to 24 weeks
From baseline to partial renal response, up to 24 weeks
To investigate the pharmacodynamics of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab: Change from baseline in levels of anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) autoantibodies at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks
Baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks
To investigate the pharmacodynamics of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab: Change from baseline in levels of complement 3 (C3) at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks
Baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks
To investigate the pharmacodynamics of LUPKYNIS in combination with belimumab, obinutuzumab or anifrolumab: Change from baseline in levels of complement 4 (C4) at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks
Baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 22, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 2, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 2, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 13, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AUR-VCS-2025-01

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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