AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) bagged itself a hat-trick on Thursday after its ovarian cancer and anaemia drugs met their goals in three separate late-stage trials.
The results should be a boon for the blue-chip drugmaker, which has seen patents on several of its blockbuster drugs expire in recent years, severely denting sales.
READ: Chinese regulators approve Astra’s Roxadustat drug
But shares were down 1.5% on Thursday morning to 5,878p as they followed the FTSE 100 lower, which dropped to two-year lows.
Lynparza, Astra’s cancer drug which it is developing alongside Merck, improved response rates in patients with relapsed ovarian cancer who had previously received chemotherapy.
The company said it will discuss the results with US regulators, who recently approved Lynparza as a first-line treatment in adults with a slightly different type of ovarian cancer.
As for AstraZeneca’s Roxadustat anaemia treatment, that also met its primary endpoint in two separate trials exploring its effectiveness in boosting haemoglobin count in patients with the blood disorder.
It marks a successful week for the drug, which was approved for use in China on Tuesday.