Clovis Oncology tanks as FDA asks for more drug data; AstraZeneca gets a boost

Shares in Clovis Oncology tanked on Monday after it said the US Food and Drug Administration has requested additional clinical data on the efficacy of its experimental lung cancer drug, rociletinib.

The Colorado-based company said it expects the review of this additional information to result in the delay of any potential approval.

President and chief executive Patrick J Mahaffy said: “We remain confident in rociletinib and its potential to treat patients with mutant EGFR T790M-positive lung cancer.

“We will continue to work diligently with the FDA on our new drug approval submission.”

The news lifted shares in London-listed pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca, whose new lung cancer pill, Tagrisso, was approved by US regulators last Friday.

At 1435 GMT, AstraZeneca shares were up 2.7% to 4,202.50p, while Clovis tumbled 73% to $26.99.