Drugs giant AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) today revealed positive results from phase 3 trials of a breast cancer treatment, while its top shareholder Woodford Investment Management has reportedly raised its holdings in the blue chip firm.
The FTSE 100-listed firm said its Lynparza breast cancer treatment met its primary endpoint in phase 3 trials, with initial findings from the OLYMPIAD study indicating that the safety profile of the drug was consistent with previous studies.
AstraZeneca said patients treated with Lynparza showed a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement in progression-free survival for metastatic breast cancer sufferers compared to those treated with chemotherapy.
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Sean Bohen, AstraZeneca’s executive vice-president for global medicines development and chief medical officer, said. "These results are positive news for patients with BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer, a disease with a high unmet need, and are the first positive Phase III data for a PARP inhibitor beyond ovarian cancer.
“This is highly encouraging for the development of our broad portfolio which aims to treat multiple cancers by targeting DNA damage response pathways,"
A full evaluation of the OLYMPIAD data is ongoing and the results will be submitted for presentation at a forthcoming medical meeting.
In a note to clients, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, said: “While the focus of investors has largely been on the immuno-oncology franchise at AstraZeneca, we have previously highlighted the potential of the DNA damage response (DDR) programme to be a major contributor to the New Oncology platform.
“Led by first-in-class Lynparza, we believe that AZN has a leadership position in DDR. If approved for metastatic breast cancer this would be a significant addition to the existing ovarian cancer indication.”
In early trading, AstraZeneca shares were up 0.9%, or 41.5p to 4,566p, rallying after falls in the previous session.
Woodford confident …
Meanwhile, in its January funds update, Woodford Investment Management said that it had added to its stake in the drugs group and was confident in its growth outlook.
In the update, published on its website, Woodford said shares in AstraZeneca had been unfairly hit since analysts raised concern about the prospects for its key cancer drug trial, Mystic, after US rival Bristol-Myers Squibb scaled back its plans in a similar area.
The fund manager said: "Whilst this is understandable to an extent, we think the reaction is wrong. Indeed, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s problems in this setting may well turn out to be positive for AstraZeneca.
“As with any ongoing clinical trial, there is a degree of uncertainty about how the Mystic trial will conclude. Arguably, the market has become overly-infatuated with the importance of Mystic to the AstraZeneca investment case.”
It added: “We believe the company is on the right path for a return to growth regardless of the outcome of Mystic.
“That said, we remain very confident in the potential that exists within AstraZeneca’s immuno-oncology pipeline, and are optimistic that Mystic will deliver hard evidence of that when it reads out in the middle of this year.”
-- Adds broker comment, share price --