AstraZeneca reveals trial of Lynparza drug reduces risk of ovarian cancer worsening

AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) said a phase III trial of its Lynparza drug greatly showed to greatly reduce the risk of ovarian cancer worsening.

Lynparza halted or reversed tumour growth in 60% of patients with advanced so-called BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer three years into the SOLO-1 trial.

In a group of patients being treated with chemotherapy alone, only 28% did not see tumour growth.

In the fourth year of the trial, the progression-free survival rate in those being treated with Lynparza was more than 50%, compared to 11% in the chemotherapy-only group.

READ: AstraZeneca’s Lynparza given orphan drug status for treatment of pancreatic cancer

Sean Bohen, chief medical officer and executive vice president of Global Medicines Development, said: “There is currently a significant unmet need in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer because 70% of women relapse within the first three years after their initial treatment.

“The remarkable results of the SOLO-1 trial, which showed that 60% of women with newly diagnosed, advanced BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer remained progression-free at three years, highlight the potential of Lynparza as a maintenance therapy in the 1st-line setting.”

Cancer cells with BRCA mutation are less able to repair DNA when damaged during cell division, which can lead to cancerous mutations.

Lynparza has already been approved for later use in patients with the BRCA mutation of cancer cells and for a certain type of breast cancer but getting patients on the drug at an early stage of treatments, known as first-line use, will pave the way for AstraZeneca to secure prescriptions for a longer duration.

AstraZeneca faces competition for Lynparza 

AstraZeneca is currently leading the way against its two US rivals in the drug class of PARP inhibitors, which aim to block the BRCA mutation of cancer cells. Lynparza was the first PARP inhibitor to reach the market when it received US approval at the end of 2014.

However, the group faces competition from products made by Tesaro and Clovis Oncology.

Clovis Oncology’s Rubraca has been approved for ovarian cancer after initial chemotherapy failed while Tesaro expects to report trial results for first-line use of its Zejula drug for ovarian cancer next year.

Deutsche Bank says trial data ‘impressive’ 

Deutsche Bank said the successful trial of Lynparza further increases its ‘buy’ conviction and raised its target price to 6,500p from 6,400p.

“We believe impressive data from AstraZeneca’s SOLO-1 trial of Lynparza in 1L BRCAm ovarian cancer is significantly better than expectations and makes Lynparza consensus forecasts for sales of US$1.7bn in ‘22 look too conservative,” it said.

“ AZN is our top EU Pharma pick as we expect an accelerating top-line performance to translate to meaningful margin expansion and above peer group growth over the medium term (estimated 2018-22 earnings per share compound annual growth rate of more than 15%).”

Story by ProactiveInvestors