(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Monday saw shares fall, as test results suggested a new lung cancer drug may be less successful than hoped, despite being generally positive.
Shares in the Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical company closed 4.9% lower at 10,719.10 pence each in London on Monday, following results from its phase three trial for Datopotamab deruxtecan with Tokyo-based partner, Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd.
Daiichi Sankyo shares closed 0.6% higher at JPY4,578.00 each in Tokyo.
The companies said the conjugate showed "statistically significant improvement for the dual primary endpoint of progression-free survival" when compared to docetaxel, the current standard of care chemotherapy.
Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of AstraZeneca's Oncology research and development unit said: "These first phase III trial results from the datopotamab deruxtecan clinical programme provide compelling evidence for the potential role this TROP2-directed antibody drug conjugate can play in treating patients with lung cancer."
However, for the dual primary endpoint of overall survival, data were not mature, though an early trend was observed in favour of the conjugate compared to docetaxel.
"Data from the TROPION-Lung01 have been eagerly awaited and we generally expect this result to be viewed positively albeit in the absence of this being described as 'clinically meaningful' and the safety events noted, we would like to see data in detail before drawing any firm conclusions", commented analysts from Shore Capital Markets.
While the drug's safety profile was consistent with prior trials, some Grade Five events - i.e. deaths - were observed.
Ahead of this data readout, street expectations were high, analysts noted. This is the second antibody drug conjugate that Astra Zeneca has been developing with Daiichi Sankyo.
"Whilst this 'Lung01 trial is only for later stage lung cancer (2/3L NSCLC), this readout has been viewed as an opportunity to seed expectations for several other Phase III trials in earlier settings of the disease which have recently initiated. The big picture view is that dato' could potentially replace mainstay, systemic chemotherapy," Shore Capital analysts added.
TROP2 is a protein highly expressed in a large majority of lung cancers.
By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter
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