(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Friday reported positive results in recent trials of its Imfinzi cancer treatment.
The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical company said its Coast Phase II trial has shown improved response rates in patients when treated with a combination of its immunotherapy cancer drug Imfinzi and two other monoclonal antibodies, oleclumab or monalizumab.
When following up on patients after almost 12 months, the trial shows that the combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 56% compared to the use of Imfinzi alone.
The FTSE 100-listed firm added that its real world observational study, Pacific-R, has highlighted the long-term effectiveness of Imfinzi in patients with lung cancer.
On average, the study shows a real world cancer progression-free survival rate of 21.7 months, AstraZeneca said.
In comparison, its randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Pacific Phase III trial previously showed Imfinzi to have a median progression-free survival rate of 16.9 months.
The company noted that around 2.2 million people worldwide were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020.
Lung cancer is usually divided into two categories: NSCLC and small cell lung cancer. NSCLC accounts for around 80% to 85% of cases, of which one third are defined as "locally advanced" or stage-three cancers.
For decades, no new treatments have been available for lung cancer patients with unresectable tumours, ones that cannot be removed through surgery, the company says.
Chief of medical oncology at Yale's Cancer Centre, Roy Herbst, said: "Imfinzi is the established standard of care for patients with unresectable, Stage III NSCLC, but solutions are still needed for patients who do not benefit from currently available therapies. The remarkable improvement observed with the addition of oleclumab or monalizumab to Imfinzi, along with the strong safety profile, suggests these novel combinations could further redefine outcomes for these patients."
Shares in AstraZeneca were trading up 0.5% at 8,184.00 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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