20th Oct 2025 03:44
(Alliance News) - Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd on Sunday reported promising clinical activity across multiple oncology programmes, including early signals in solid tumours and new data in breast cancer.
The Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company said its targeted therapy Enhertu, jointly developed with Cambridge, England-based pharmaceuticals firm AstraZeneca PLC, reduced recurrence or death in early breast cancer by 53%.
More than 92% of patients treated with Enhertu remained free of invasive disease at three years, reinforcing its potential as a foundational treatment in curative-intent settings.
"The results of Destiny-Breast05 demonstrate a clear benefit of Enhertu over the current standard of care following surgery in patients with Her2-positive early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence after neoadjuvant treatment, improving their chance for sustained long-term outcomes," said Ken Takeshita, global head of research and development at Daiichi Sankyo.
Alongside Enhertu, Daiichi and AstraZeneca's Datroway also showed a 43% reduction in risk of progression or death, marking continued progress in breast cancer treatment. The survival benefit was seen in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who were not eligible for immunotherapy.
Beyond breast cancer, Daiichi is also advancing early-stage programs, including DS-3939, which showed initial signs of activity in solid tumours.
DS-3939 targets a protein overexpressed in many epithelial cancers and is being explored as a potential first-in-class therapy for hard-to-treat solid tumours.
Manish Patel, director of Drug Development at Florida Cancer Specialists and Sarah Cannon Research Institute said: "These initial results are encouraging for patients with advanced solid tumours where treatment options remain limited once standard therapies are no longer effective...Enrollment continues into the dose expansion part of the trial to help us better understand the potential role DS-3939 may play in treating numerous types of advanced solid tumors."
Shares in Daiichi Sankyo were up 2.9% at JPY4,112.00 in Tokyo on Monday morning, while AstraZeneca shares closed up slightly at 12,560.00 pence in London on Friday.
By Judy Amaca, Alliance News reporter Asia-Pacific
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