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* Selumetinib fails in Phase III trial for uveal melanoma
* Drug continues to be tested in lung, other cancers
* 2020 consensus sales forecast for selumetinib $305 mln (Adds sales forecast, analyst comment, disease details)
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's muchanticipated cancer drug pipeline suffered a modest blow onWednesday when the experimental drug selumetinib failed to meetits goal in a late-stage trial for a rare cancer of the eye.
The drugmaker said the disappointing result in uvealmelanoma would not affect other studies using the drug.Selumetinib is being investigated primarily as a treatment foradvanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Selumetinib belongs to a class of cancer drugs known as MEKinhibitors, which includes Novartis's approved productMekinist and the experimental compound cobimetinib from Roche and Exelixis.
Current consensus analyst forecasts for selumetinib, whichis designed for use alongside chemotherapy, point to relativelyminor sales of $305 million in 2020, according to ThomsonReuters Cortellis.
Berenberg analyst Alistair Campbell said the failure of thePhase III trial, known as SUMIT, was a surprise after verypromising Phase II data.
"However, selumetinib is not one of the big three oncologydrugs (AZD9291, Lynparza and MEDI4736) that will lead theturnaround of Astra's fortunes in oncology," he wrote in a note.
Shares in the drugmaker fell 0.7 percent in early trading.
Uveal melanoma is a disease in which cancer cells grow inthe tissues of the eye. Although rare, it is the most commonprimary intraocular malignancy in adults and accounts for 5percent of all melanomas.
The bigger commercial opportunity for AstraZeneca would bein using the drug in lung cancer. Selumetinib is also beingstudied in thyroid cancer and neurofibromatosis, a condition inwhich tumours grow along the nerves.
"Selumetinib is supported by a strong development programmewith different scientific rationale in multiple tumour types asboth monotherapy and in alternative combinations," saidAstraZeneca's oncology development head Antoine Yver.
"The findings from SUMIT have no impact on the other studiesand we look forward to presenting the data in due course."
Oncology is a priority area for AstraZeneca and the groupaims to launch six new cancer medicines by 2020.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Louise Heavens andKeith Weir; by Louise Heavens)
