AstraZeneca hails positive findings in breast cancer drug trial

AstraZeneca said on Thursday that a phase III trial of its capivasertib drug in combination with Faslodex (fulvestrant) had demonstrated a "statistically significant and clinically meaningful" improvement in progression-free survival in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-low or negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

The results, which were versus placebo plus Faslodex, showed that capivasertib and Faslodex demonstrated a 40% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death.

Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, said: "Capivasertib brings important progress to an area with persistent treatment gaps as the first therapy of its kind shown to be effective in a Phase III trial in patients with advanced HR-positive, HER2-low or negative breast cancer.

"We believe these results which showed benefit in all-comers and biomarker positive populations can reshape HR-positive breast cancer treatment, and that capivasertib can become an important new option for patients."