Vera Therapeutics reports positive results from trial of kidney disease drug

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

An experimental medicine from Vera Therapeutics significantly reduced levels of toxic protein in the urine of patients with an autoimmune kidney disease. The Phase 3 study results reported Monday met an intermittent treatment goal and laid down a marker ahead of a competing study readout later this week. 

The Vera drug called atacicept lowered proteinuria levels by 46% after nine months compared to 7% lowering in patients given a placebo. The improvement — 42% as calculated using a prespecified statistical model that takes into account baseline factors — will support a regulatory submission to the Food and Drug Administration before the end of the year, Vera said. 

The study enrolled 203 patients with IgA nephropathy, or IgAN, a chronic kidney disease caused by the build-up of antibodies in the kidneys. The condition leads to progressive loss of kidney function and potentially organ failure requiring dialysis. Patients in the Vera study were in their 40s with high-risk disease causing kidney deterioration despite the use of other medications.