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AstraZeneca Halts Lung Cancer Trial for Volrustomig; Reports Positive Data for Tagrisso Combo, Enhertu

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AstraZeneca Halts Lung Cancer Trial for Volrustomig; Reports Positive Data for Tagrisso Combo, Enhertu

AstraZeneca (AZN.L, AZN.ST) on Monday announced mixed late-stage lung cancer trial results, shuttering its volrustomig study while reporting positive readouts for Enhertu and a Tagrisso-Orpathys combination.

The drugmaker terminated its phase 3 trial assessing volrustomig in combination with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The decision was prompted by a planned review by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee, which found the therapy unlikely to improve progression-free or overall survival in patients with PD-L1 negative tumors compared with the comparator arm.

On the other hand, AstraZeneca said it intends to continue other late-stage volrustomig trials in cervical cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and mesothelioma.

Separately, the company reported that Enhertu, which it co-develops with Daiichi Sankyo, met its primary endpoint in the Destiny-Lung04 phase 3 trial, significantly delaying disease progression in patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic HER2-mutant non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. The treatment was evaluated against platinum-pemetrexed doublet chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab, the existing global standard of care.

The companies plan to submit the findings to international regulators and keep the trial running to assess secondary endpoints, including overall survival.

Additionally, AstraZeneca said its combination treatment of Tagrisso and Orpathys demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in progression-free and overall survival in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. In the Saffron phase 3 study, the combination therapy outperformed the doublet platinum-based chemotherapy.

The randomized, open-label, multi-center trial enrolled 338 patients across 29 countries. AstraZeneca leads commercialization for Orpathys, which it is jointly developing with Hutchmed (HCM.L).

AstraZeneca's shares climbed over 1% during midmorning trade in London and nearly 1% higher in Stockholm.

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