AstraZeneca PLC’s (LON:AZN) fourth-quarter earnings will be hit by a US$100mln write-down as the company was advised to stop a trial for a heart pill.
Epanova, which is a fish oil-derived mixture of free fatty acids, was being tested in 22 countries on patients suffering from mixed dyslipidemia (MDL).
READ: AstraZeneca weighs in with a double dose of good news
MDL is defined as elevations in LDL cholesterol, the “bad” type, and low levels of HDL cholesterol, the “good” one.
However, the FTSE 100-listed pharma giant said an independent data monitoring committee recommended stopping Phase III of the trial because Epanova was unlikely to benefit patients with MDL.
The drug will keep being marketed in the US, where it is approved for patients looking to reduce fatty acid (triglyceride) levels in their blood, although the company will now review the current estimated value of US$533mln as an asset.
Ovarian cancer drug granted priority review
In a separate announcement, the company said Lynparza was granted priority review in the US and a fee will be collected in the second quarter of 2020 to fund the new drug approval process.
Lynparza, a PARP inhibitor for cancer presenting mutations in the BRCA gene, is used as a first-line maintenance treatment for women with certain types of ovarian cancer.
PARP – or poly-ADP ribose polymerase – is a protein which helps damaged cells to recover. Taking a PARP inhibitor stops it from repairing cancer cells which then eventually die.