AstraZeneca PLC and Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd on Monday said their Enhertu drug met its primary endpoint in a breast cancer trial.

Cambridge-based pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca said a form of breast cancer in patients treated with Enhertu showed slowed disease progression.

‘These data further strengthen our confidence in Enhertu and reinforce its potential to transform patient outcomes across multiple treatment settings,’ said AstraZeneca Executive Vice President of Oncology Research & Development Susan Galbraith.

Enhertu showed a ‘meaningful improvement’ in progression-free survival, the amount of time a patient lives without the disease getting worse.

The trial involved sufferers of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer. Participants had been previously treated with trastuzumab emtansine, an existing cancer therapy.

Unresectable is when the disease cannot be removed through surgery, and metastatic is when it spreads to distant parts of the body.

HER2 is a tyrosine kinase receptor growth-promoting protein expressed on the surface of many types of tumours including breast, gastric, lung and colorectal cancers, and is one of many biomarkers expressed in breast cancer tumours.

Enhertu also achieved the second primary endpoint, an improved overall survival.

AstraZeneca shares were 1.9% higher at 10,920.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.

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