AstraZeneca shares rise after surprising victory in lung disease test
AstraZenecaShares rose over 3% after Britain’s most valuable company said its experimental lung drug had met targets in two late-stage clinical trials.
The company said the respiratory treatment tozorakimab reduced the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared to placebo in both former smokers and the general population.
“This represents a remarkable shift in sentiment as belief in the IL-33 mechanism is limited following previous IL-33 failures Sanofi And Roche“said analysts at Jefferies.
Tozorakimab and competing drugs belong to a class of treatments called monoclonal antibodies. They work by suppressing the effects of the protein interleukin-33 (IL-33) and can reduce inflammation.
“Today’s tozorakimab results provide the first two confirmatory Phase III trials for an IL-33 biologic, representing a major scientific advance in COPD, the third leading cause of death worldwide,” said Sharon Barr, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals and research and development at AstraZeneca.
“Tozorakimab works in a fundamentally different way than other biologics by inhibiting the signaling of the reduced and oxidized forms of IL-33 to both reduce inflammation and disrupt the cycle of mucus dysfunction, which are the major causes of disease in COPD,” Barr said.
Full results will be announced at an upcoming medical meeting, AstraZeneca said.
In July, Swiss drugmaker Roche reported mixed results for its COPD drug astegolimab, which ultimately failed to reduce flare-ups in a Phase 3 trial. Similar to tozorakimab, it is intended to stop the binding of IL-33.
Two months earlier, French company Sanofi reported similarly mixed results for its co-developed drug itepekimab Regeneron.
London-listed shares of AstraZeneca ended the session up 3.4%, in contrast to British stocks FTSE 100 Index that closed just below the flatline. Astra’s Friday update also boosted shares of Roche and Sanofi by around 1% each.
Multi-billion dollar potential
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 400 million people are diagnosed with COPD, and COPD is a leading cause of death worldwide.
It is a progressive respiratory disease characterized by shortness of breath, chronic cough and excessive mucus production. Symptoms may worsen over time and lead to persistent inflammation and bronchoconstriction, making breathing difficult and increasing the risk of COPD exacerbations.
AstraZeneca has forecast annual peak sales of tozorakimab will be between $3 billion and $5 billion, while estimates ahead of Friday’s trial results averaged peak sales of about $1 billion, according to FactSet.
Study results showed benefit for both former and current smokers across all lung function severities.
It also suggested a benefit for patients with low levels of a type of white blood cell called eosinophils, a key unmet need for about 35% of patients, Citi analysts noted.
Tozorakimab is also being studied in a phase 3 study in severe viral lower respiratory tract diseases and in a phase 2 study in asthma.
Astra plans to bring more than 20 new drugs to market in the next five years and is targeting annual sales of $80 billion by 2030.
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