Berenberg stays at 'buy' for AstraZeneca after trial results for Enhertu against breast cancer

Analysts at Berenberg reiterated their 'buy' recommendation with a 120.0p target price for shares of AstraZeneca following the release of the company's clinical trial results for its treatment against metastatic breast cancer.

The results for Enhertu in HER2-low breast cancer were released at the plenary session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and delivered "data fit for a queen", analysts Luisa Hector, Kerry Holford, Diana H W Na and Ellie Roberts said in a research note sent to clients.

Enhertu showed the potential to extend survival for a further 50% of metastatic breast cancer patients with HER2-low breast cancer.

In comparison to physicians' choice of chemotherapy, it reduced the risk of disease progression by half and that of death by 36%.

Significantly, a similar magnitude of benefits was observed across all sub-groups.

In financial terms, the analysts believed the results had secured at least another $2bn of potential sales.

With a 60% probability of success, their forecast for Enhertu's peak sales was $10bn.

As an aside, they pointed out that the next key pipeline event for the firm would be read-out for the Dato-Dxd trial into its antibody drug conjugate treatment for 2L lung cancer expected in early 2023.