AstraZeneca shares fall 5% on disappointing lung most cancers drug trial

A illustrative image of a person holding a medical syringe and a vial of the Covid-19 vaccine in front of the AstraZeneca logo displayed on a screen. on Wednesday, January 12, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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AstraZeneca Shares fell more than 5% on Tuesday morning, their biggest daily decline in seven months, after the British pharmaceutical giant reported disappointing results from lung cancer drug trials.

The Covid-19 vaccine maker was trading at the bottom of the FTSE 100, dragging down the wider healthcare sector after data released on Monday showed its experimental drug datopotamab deruxtecan did not significantly improve patients' overall survival outcomes.

The stock fell 4.8% as of 11 a.m. London time.

Late trial results from the phase III TROPION-Lung01 trial showed that the new drug's overall survival rate “did not reach statistical significance,” the company said.

The company's drug Dato-DXd was tested against docetaxel chemotherapy in patients whose non-small cell lung cancer had recurred after one or two previous treatment attempts.

Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology research and development at AstraZeneca, said the results showed a “clinically meaningful” trend toward improving survival rates for patients with advanced lung cancer.

The drug trials have been watched by investors hoping it could be another successful drug following the success of the Cambridge, England-based company's Covid-19 vaccine.

Previous studies in July 2023 also disappointed markets, although they showed some success in curbing cancer progression.

The drug, which is being developed with Japanese company Daiichi Sankyo, is seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is expected to occur in December.

Citigroup said in a note that there was a “mixed picture” for the drug but that confidence in the approval “remains high,” although Monday's results make the picture more complex.

“We believe that the data leads to more complexity and therefore slightly increases approval risks in the short term,” the analysts wrote in Monday’s note.