AstraZeneca lung cancer data reveals promise
pharmafile | May 15, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | ASCO, AstraZeneca, NSCLC, azd0291, lung cancer
AstraZeneca has released promising data in a lung cancer trial with one of its investigational drugs, AZD9291, which has breakthrough therapy designation in the US.
It is being tested in the Phase I AURA study in patients with EGFR mutation positive (EGFRm+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have developed acquired resistance to EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
The data shows that patients with EGFR T790M+ tumours have a higher overall response rate to AZD9291 than those who have not acquired this resistance mutation.
It is one of a number of presentations to be made by AstraZeneca and its biologics R&D arm, MedImmune, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) later this month in Chicago.
Such results add weight to AstraZeneca’s argument that it is doing perfectly well as a standalone company, and does not need Pfizer’s hostile £63 billion bid.
The Anglo-Swedish firm has been keen to show off its oncology pipeline: earlier this week MedImmune signed a deal with Incyte to combine its investigational anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, MEDI4736, with Incyte’s oral indoleamine dioxygenase-1 (IDO1) inhibitor, INCB24360.
MedImmune also began a late-stage trial of MEDI4736 in non-small cell lung cancer last week.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot has not closed the door on Pfizer, saying he is willing to engage if the price is right and the potential problems in merging the two businesses can be resolved.
“Every shareholder says at the right level with the right offer you should consider it – that is very clear,” he told Reuters. “But there is nobody who has told us a specific price at which we should engage.”
He went on: “If the offer was reflecting the value of the company but also addressing some of the integration aspects, the operating model and execution risks we are concerned about, then we certainly should engage – there’s no doubt.”
Apart from price, one of the main issues is how Pfizer’s three-unit operation could integrate AstraZeneca’s business, where R&D subsidiary MedImmune works across all parts of the group.
Adam Hill
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