AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) shares were under early pressure after its combination therapy failed to make a meaningful impact on the disease progression of very ill lung cancer sufferers.
AZ’s Imfinzi was paired with tremelimumab, an immune checkpoint blocker, and given to people who’d received at least two other rounds of different treatment.
READ: US FDA approves AstraZenca’s Tagrisso drug as first-line treatment for lung cancer
Together, the two medications weren’t statistically superior to the standard of care chemotherapy.
The Phase III ARCTIC trial focused on PDL1-low/negative non-small cell lung cancer sufferers.
As a therapy on its own, Imfinzi showed “a clinically-meaningful reduction in the risk of death” compared to chemotherapy, AZ said in a statement.
Chief medical officer Sean Bohen told investors: "While we are disappointed that the combination of Imfinzi plus tremelimumab did not result in a statistically-significant survival benefit in this heavily pre-treated patient population, we are encouraged by the activity of Imfinzi monotherapy observed in this trial and look forward to presenting the full data from the ARCTIC trial at an upcoming medical meeting."
The stock was down 1% at £49.62.
