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A new AstraZeneca drug has failed to extend significantly the lives of breast cancer patients in a blow to the company’s ambitions to hit an $80bn revenue target by 2030.
Datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) is a new form of cancer treatment, known as an antibody-drug conjugate, developed with Japanese company Daiichi Sankyo.
It failed to provide a statistically significant improvement in overall survival among late-stage breast cancer patients who had previously been treated with hormonal therapies.
Earlier this month, the drug failed to deliver overall survival benefits in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, causing shares to fall nearly 5 per cent.
After those results, AstraZeneca said Dato-DXd could still hit peak annual sales of $5bn. The treatment is a key part of the company’s ambitions to almost double revenues by 2030. It had previously extended the time before patients’ conditions worsened by two months, compared with chemotherapy.
But the drug has shown less convincing results than Enhertu, the other antibody-drug conjugate developed with Daiichi Sankyo to treat cancer which has led to improvements in tackling breast cancer.
Susan Galbraith, the company’s head of oncology research and development, said there was evidence that the drug offered value for patients and AstraZeneca would “continue discussions with regulators” about its use.
Ken Takeshita, head of research and development at Daiichi Sankyo, said the company was “proud” to have “brought forth a new standard of care for patients with metastatic breast cancer with Enhertu and we remain committed to making datopotamab deruxtecan another potential option for patients who can benefit”.
Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer accounts for about 70 per cent of breast cancer cases. While it can be well treated with hormonal treatments when diagnosed early, these regimens can be less effective once the cancer has spread.