Shares in Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) raced ahead by 5.6% to £75.20 after its lung cancer drug Tagrisso achieved significant success in Phase III trials.
Executive vice president of Oncology research and development Jose Baselga commented, ‘Lung cancer is a devastating diagnosis and for the first time an EGFR-targeted medicine can now provide the hope of cure.’
Early Success
The drug was tested in a global, placebo-controlled trial called ADAURA, consisting of 682 patients in more than 200 centres across 20 countries. The original endpoint was meant to be sometime in 2022, so today’s announcement is much sooner than expected.
The trial involved patients who had already received surgery to remove the tumour. It is unusual for a trial to be stopped so early, which indicates the effectiveness of the treatment.
Tagrisso is AstraZeneca’s biggest-selling drug, already approved in 80 countries, and the success of the latest trial means the disease can now be addressed at an earlier point and potentially provide a cure for certain patients.
Broker Shore Capital reckons consensus estimates for 2025 revenues for Tagrisso are around $6.6bn but the ADAURA result should lead to upgrades.
In a separate announcement the company said it had received the first regulatory approval for Koselugo, designed to treat a rare paediatric disorder which can reduce life expectancy by up to 15 years.
Broker Shore Capital estimates there are currently around 6,000 eligible patients for Koselugo in the US, which at a cost of $12,500 per month would imply peak revenues of $900m if all the patients were treated. Analysts are currently forecasting peak revenues of around $350m.
