AstraZeneca seeks to bring new cancer drugs to market
AstraZeneca claims to have demonstrated the potential “to transform the way cancer is treated” as it steps up efforts to convince investors it was right to spurn a near-£70bn takeover approach from Pfizer.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive, said the company was moving “as fast as possible” to bring new cancer drugs to market after revealing positive trial data that he hopes will bolster the case for independence.
AstraZeneca said an experimental treatment called Medi4736 “showed durable clinical activity and tolerability across a range of tumour types” in early-stage trials, supporting its decision last month to accelerate it into a pivotal phase III study.
The drug is part of a wave of treatments that harness the body’s immune system to hunt and destroy cancer cells, with scientists and analysts hailing them as the biggest step forward in oncology for years.
AstraZeneca put Medi4736 at the heart of its defence against Pfizer’s aborted approach, forecasting that the drug could generate peak annual sales of up to $6.5bn.
Some analysts have bought into the UK company’s optimism, including Andrew Baum at Citigroup, who said in a report this week that AstraZeneca could emerge as the main long-term challenger to Roche of Switzerland in cancer immunotherapy.
Others are more cautious, warning that AstraZeneca faces a battle to catch up with US rivals Merck & Co and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as Roche, in what looks certain to be a fiercely competitive field.
“AstraZeneca will be a late entrant into the category and it is unclear how the company will compete effectively if there is no differentiation with its approach,” said Tim Anderson, analyst at Bernstein.
Mr Soriot has highlighted the greater breadth of AstraZeneca’s oncology portfolio compared with Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb as an important advantage, allowing it to combine medicines into potentially more potent therapies.
Jeffrey Holford, analyst at Jefferies, said there was not yet enough data to judge the effectiveness and safety of Medi4736 against rival products, but said there was a potential opening for AstraZeneca after “underwhelming” trial results for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s nivolumab.
Shares in AstraZeneca closed down 0.49 per cent at £43.49 on Tuesday, reflecting the fact that the company’s optimism over Medi4736 has been well trailed.
The stock has fallen back since Pfizer withdrew its £55 per share offer last month and Mr Soriot is now under pressure to accelerate delivery of new drugs to stem a decline in revenues as old blockbusters lose patent protection.
In addition to Medi4736, AstraZeneca also announced strong early-stage trial results for its AZD9291 treatment for non-small cell lung cancer and said it planned to file for regulatory approval as early as the first quarter of next year.
The data were presented to a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago – the most important annual gathering of cancer scientists and drug companies.
Naresh Chouhan, analyst at Liberum, said all four companies competing for leadership in cancer immunotherapy – Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Roche and AstraZeneca – had proved that their drugs work. Focus would now shift to which had the greatest safety and tolerability, he said.