AstraZeneca ditches lung cancer treatment trial

Drug giant AstraZeneca has revealed its latest setback in just over a month after halting a late stage lung cancer treatment trial.

The FTSE 100 firm said it found its Volrustomig drug, when combined with chemotherapy, was unlikely to boost survival rates for lung cancer patients when compared with another existing treatments.

Its move to stop the phase three trial follows a recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee after a planned review of data from the trials.

The decision marks a further blow after AstraZeneca saw billions wiped off its stock market value following its decision in July to stop a trial for a new heart disease drug, called Wainua.

Susan Galbraith, an executive vice president at AstraZeneca, said the decision to halt the lung cancer treatment trial was a disappointment.

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 is the biggest cause of death by cancer, accounting for almost one in four (23%).

AstraZeneca said it would continue with trials for Volrustomig in treating other types of cancer, such as cervical cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and mesothelioma.

But the Anglo-Swedish group, which is headquartered in Cambridge, also revealed some oncology drug success on Monday with the announcement that its Enhertu treatment showed “a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival” for non-small cell lung cancer patients.

It will now continue into a phase three trial.

Ms Galbraith said: “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.”

And in another development, the group announced that results of its late stage trial of Tagrisso combined with Orpathys “reinforce Tagrisso as the backbone therapy” for a further type of lung cancer.

Shares in AstraZeneca lifted as much as 2% in Monday morning early trading.

Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG, said the Volrustomig trial setback was “another reminder of the risks facing the growth story”.

“While the underlying investment case remains supported by solid fundamentals and a robust late-stage pipeline, AstraZeneca needs positive clinical developments to rebuild confidence,” he added.