29th Apr 2024 12:33
(Alliance News) - Positive trial results from AstraZeneca PLC's Enhertu, should "serve as a reminder" as to the potential of the breast cancer drug, an analyst said.
AstraZeneca on Monday said its Truqap drug has been recommended for approval in the EU to treat a form of breast cancer, while also noting positive trial results for Enhertu.
The Cambridge, UK-based pharmaceuticals manufacturer said trial results showed Enhertu, which it develops jointly with partner Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd, "demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival" compared to standard chemotherapy in some breast cancer sufferers.
Progression-free survival is the length of time a sufferer of a disease lives without the disease worsening.
"The safety profile of Enhertu was consistent with previous breast cancer clinical trials with no new safety signals identified. The data will be presented at a forthcoming medical meeting and shared with global regulatory authorities," AstraZeneca added.
Separately, AstraZeneca said its Truqap drug has been recommended for approval in the EU to treat a form of breast cancer.
In combination with Faslodex, the Truqap recommendation comes from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, part of the European Medicines Agency.
It follows trial results which showed the drug combination "reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50% versus Faslodex alone".
"Today's news reinforces the practice-changing potential of Truqap in combination with Faslodex to extend the effectiveness of endocrine-based treatment approaches for patients who experience tumour progression on, or resistance to widely used endocrine-based therapies," said Susan Galbraith, executive vice president for Oncology Research & Development.
Shore Capital analyst Sean Conroy explained Enhertu's significant potential in the HER2-low setting of breast cancer was previously cemented by "compelling" data from the DB04 trial which had previously "captured the attention of the market and medical communities, showing this drug has the potential to redefine the treatment landscape for HER2-driven breast cancers."
He said the positive high-level data from DB06 announced Monday should "serve as a reminder that this is still the case".
Conroy believes this emerging HER2-low opportunity could potentially expand the applicable patient pool by around 2 to 3 times compared with that addressed by the established HER2+ market which is already worth around USD10 billion.
AstraZeneca shares were up 1.3% to 12,142.00 pence on Monday in London.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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