By Mrinalika Roy
(Reuters) -AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s new breast cancer drug helped significantly extend survival in some patients in a late-stage trial, marking a potential breakthrough in one of the hardest-to-treat forms of the disease.
Patients with triple-negative breast cancer who were given the drug, Datroway, had a median overall survival of 23.7 months, compared with 18.7 months for those given just chemotherapy. Patients on Datroway also had significantly better response to the drug and survival without progression of disease, the drug showed.
The companies presented the data at European Society for Medical Oncology Congress on Sunday.
“This is the first time we show survival superiority of a new approach like Datroway versus standard chemotherapy,” said Abder Laadem, head of late-stage clinical development oncology at Daiichi Sankyo.
Datroway belongs to a class of cancer medicines called antibody-drug conjugate, which works like guided missiles by directly delivering chemotherapy into tumor cells while limiting exposure to healthy tissue. The drug received approval in the U.S. earlier this year for the treatment of specific types of breast and lung cancer.
The drug’s design ensures targeted delivery and reduces toxicity, Susan Galbraith, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president of oncology R&D, said. Patients were on the therapy twice as long as chemotherapy, but still rates of Grade 3 adverse events were similar and discontinuations were lower.
Datroway’s success could position it to compete more directly with Gilead’s Trodelvy.
Ken Keller, global oncology head at Daiichi Sankyo, said he was confident Datroway would compare favourably with Trodelvy, especially due to its convenience.
“Trodelvy is every two weeks, ours is every 21 days. Those differences matter when drugs are close.”
AstraZeneca and Daiichi’s blockbuster cancer drug Enhertu is also an ADC.
“Between Enhertu and Datroway, we can actually treat 90% of all women with breast cancer. These drugs have the chance to become the standard of care for 90% of women,” Keller added.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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