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AstraZeneca PLC and Merck & Co Inc on Friday said their cancer drug lynparza, or olaparib, showed positive overall survival data for patients with ovarian cancer in three phase III studies.
In combination with bevacizumab, an overall 5-year survival rate of 66% was achieved in patients with a form of ovarian cancer, compared to 48% for patients merely treated with bevacizumab, another cancer drug.
The form of ovarian cancer the study was trialled on is homologous recombination deficiency-positive, or HRD-positive, which about half of patients with ovarian cancer have.
It means a body is unable to repair double strand breaks in DNA, making it more difficult for cancer cells to repair themselves.
Further, another phase III trial showed ‘Lynparza plus bevacizumab increased median overall survival to 56.5 months versus 51.6 months with bevacizumab alone,’ regardless of if the patient was HRD-positive or not.
However, this increase was not ‘statistically significant’, AstraZeneca cautioned.
A third cited phase III study showed Lynparza improved overall survival for patients with BRCA-mutated newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer.
After about seven years, 67% of Lynparza patients were still alive, versus 47% who received a placebo.
A BRCA gene mutation increases the risk of cancers over time.
‘Historically the five year survival rate of newly diagnosed patients with advanced ovarian cancer is 30% to 50%. In that context, it is phenomenal to share the long term overall survival data,’ said Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of AstraZeneca's oncology research & development unit.
AstraZeneca shares were 0.6% higher at 10,572 pence each on Friday, while Merck shares were virtually flat at $87.42 each.
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