AstraZeneca announces positive results from breast cancer drug trial

(Sharecast News) - AstraZeneca and Japan's Daiichi Sankyo announced on Monday that their jointly developed Datroway breast cancer treatment achieved positive results in a phase III trial. Results from the TROPION-Breast02 trial showed the drug achieved a "statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement" in overall survival as a first-line therapy for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer for whom immunotherapy was not an option, a statement from both companies said.

AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, which entered into a collaboration to jointly develop and commercialise Datroway in 2020 (except in Japan where Daiichi Sankyo maintains exclusive rights), said that the treatment is the first of its kind to significantly improve overall survival when compared with chemotherapy in this patient population.

"TROPION-Breast02 is the only trial ever to show an overall survival benefit in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer for whom immunotherapy is not an option," said Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology haematology R&D at AstraZeneca.

"We expect today's results will mark an inflection point in the treatment of these patients who have the poorest prognosis of any type of breast cancer and urgently need better options."

The companies will continue to evaluate Datroway across different stages and treatment settings of triple-negative breast cancer in three further phase III trials.

AstraZeneca shares were up 0.9% at 12,758.7p by 1240 BST, while Daiichi Sankyo closed the session in Tokyo up nearly 5% at JPY3,905.