AstraZeneca has halted a late-stage trial of its Volrustomig lung cancer treatment, marking its second major drug setback in just over a month. The FTSE 100 company said the drug, when combined with chemotherapy, was unlikely to improve survival rates for lung cancer patients compared with existing treatments.
Trial halted after data review
The decision to stop the phase three trial followed a recommendation from the Independent Data Monitoring Committee after a planned review of trial data. This comes after the company saw billions wiped off its stock market value in July when it stopped a trial for a new heart disease drug called Wainua.
Susan Galbraith, an executive vice president at AstraZeneca, expressed disappointment at the outcome. She said: "While we are disappointed, we will learn from this trial and are determined to continue pioneering new medicines from our industry-leading pipeline in our quest to improve outcomes for patients with lung cancer."
Lung cancer remains leading cause
Lung cancer is the biggest cause of death by cancer, accounting for almost one in four (23%) of all cancer deaths. AstraZeneca said it would continue trials of Volrustomig for other cancer types, including cervical cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and mesothelioma.
The Anglo-Swedish group, headquartered in Cambridge, also reported positive oncology results on Monday. Its Enhertu treatment showed "a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival" for non-small cell lung cancer patients, and the company will continue with late-stage trials.
Other drug developments
Ms Galbraith noted that this aggressive lung cancer "often affects younger patients and has historically had limited first-line targeted treatment options, making these positive results an important step forward in bringing additional effective therapies to patients at metastatic diagnosis when there is the greatest opportunity to improve outcomes."
In another development, the group announced that results from a late-stage trial of Tagrisso combined with Orpathys "reinforce Tagrisso as the backbone therapy" for a further type of lung cancer.
Shares in AstraZeneca rose as much as 2% in early Monday trading. Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG, said the Volrustomig setback was "another reminder of the risks facing the growth story." He added: "While the underlying investment case remains supported by solid fundamentals and a robust late-stage pipeline, AstraZeneca needs positive clinical developments to rebuild confidence."
