British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced it will end a late-stage clinical trial combining volrustomig, being developed for certain types of lung cancer, with chemotherapy. The decision follows a recommendation from an independent data monitoring committee, which concluded that volrustomig plus chemotherapy was unlikely to extend patient survival or delay disease progression compared with Merck's immunotherapy Keytruda plus chemotherapy. AstraZeneca has faced a series of trial failures and setbacks, including an unexpected late-stage failure for heart disease drug Wainua, rejection by US regulators of breast cancer drug camizestrant, and a late-stage failure for rare disease drug Ultomiris, all of which have eroded investor confidence. Meanwhile, the company reported positive results in two other late-stage lung cancer trials, with Tagrisso plus Opdivo and Enhertu, co-developed with Daiichi Sankyo, both meeting their primary endpoints. According to a spokesperson, the discontinued trial accounted for about 20% of volrustomig's peak sales forecast, but would not affect the company's goal of achieving annual revenue of 80 billion dollars by 2030. The company had previously forecast peak sales for volrustomig of more than 5 billion dollars.
AstraZeneca PLCAstraZeneca ends late-stage trial of volrustomig due to lack of efficacy, adding to recent setbacks.
Merck & Company IncVolrustomig trial discontinued because it was unlikely to beat Keytruda, reinforcing Merck's competitive position.
Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited
Merck KGaA