On Oct. 27, 2020, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced the funding and initiation of an open-label exploratory trial evaluating the antiviral effects of voclosporin in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) ﾖ the VOCOVID study.

Organ transplant recipients who contract COVID-19 are at greater risk for complications due to the requirement of daily immunosuppressive medications to prevent organ rejection. Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), like voclosporin, have been shown in prior in vitro studies to inhibit viral replication.

The team at the LUMC demonstrated that voclosporin inhibited viral replication of SARS-CoV-2 at an 8-fold lower concentration than tacrolimus in vitro, while maintaining cell viability of infected cells. In contrast to voclosporin, tacrolimus did not show antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro at clinically relevant concentrations. Therefore, given its potency and dosing advantages, voclosporin is a potentially attractive CNI for COVID-19 infected transplant patients who are already using legacy CNIs as part of their chronic immunosuppressive therapy.