AstraZeneca receives 'positive high-level results' results from Enhertu trial

(Sharecast News) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca revealed on Wednesday that it had received "positive high-level results" from a Phase III trial on its specifically engineered HER2-directed DXd antibody drug conjugate Enhertu. AstraZeneca said the trial showed that Enhertu, which was jointly developed and commercialised with Daiichi Sankyo, demonstrated a "statistically significant and clinically meaningful" improvement in pathologic complete response rate when followed by paclitaxel, trastuzumab and pertuzumab versus the current standard of care when used before surgery in patients with high-risk, locally advanced HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer.

The FTSE 100-listed firm did note that the secondary endpoint of event-free survival was "not mature" at the time of analysis but said EFS data showed an "early positive trend" favouring Enhertu followed by THP, compared to standard of care. a

AstraZeneca's Susan Galbraith said: "The clinically meaningful improvement in pathologic complete response and the safety data seen in DESTINY-Breast11 highlight the potential of Enhertu to challenge the current standard of care in early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. Enhertu is already an important treatment option in the metastatic setting, and these data have the potential to allow this medicine to move into early stages of disease where cure is possible."

As of 0900 BST, AstraZeneca shares were down 2.11% at 10,473.79p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com