AstraZeneca posts mixed lung‑cancer trial updates

(Sharecast News) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca posted two contrasting lung‑cancer updates on Monday, discontinuing one Phase III study while reporting strong survival gains from another. AstraZeneca said it will halt the eVOLVE‑Lung02 Phase III trial of volrustomig plus chemotherapy in first‑line metastatic non‑small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) with PD‑L1 expression below 50%.

The move follows a recommendation from the Independent Data Monitoring Committee, which concluded after a planned data review that the volrustomig regimen was unlikely to meet either of its dual primary endpoints of progression‑free survival or overall survival in patients with PD‑L1‑negative tumours.

Separately, AstraZeneca reported positive high‑level results from its SAFFRON Phase III trial, where Tagrisso (osimertinib) combined with Orpathys (savolitinib) delivered "statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements" in both progression‑free and overall survival versus platinum‑based chemotherapy.

The study enrolled patients with EGFR‑mutated NSCLC whose tumours showed high levels of MET overexpression or amplification and had progressed on prior Tagrisso treatment.

AstraZeneca addded that the findings reinforced Tagrisso's role as the backbone therapy across EGFR‑mutated lung cancer.

As of 0840 BST, AstraZeneca shares were up 1.40% at 11,620p.







Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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