AstraZeneca and MSD share positive results for Lynparza in ovarian and pancreatic cancer trials
AstraZeneca has announced positive results for its drug Lynparza (olaparib) from trials in both ovarian and pancreatic cancer.
Presenting results from the phase III POLO trial at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, AstraZeneca and its collaborator MSD reported that the drug nearly doubled the amount of time patients lived without disease progression from germline BRCA-mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer from a median of 7.4 months compared to 3.8 for those on the placebo.
More than twice as many patients showed no disease progression at one year and two years.
José Baselga, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president, oncology R&D, said: “These unprecedented results raise new hope for patients that have seen little progress over a long period of time. From as early as six months after initiation, more than twice as many patients taking Lynparza lived without progression of their disease compared to those on placebo and we are now working with regulatory authorities to bring Lynparza to patients as quickly as possible.”
At the same conference, the companies reported that Lynparza achieved a 72 per cent objective response rate in patients with relapsed, germline BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer. In the SOLO trial, it improved the median time patients lived without disease progression by more than four months compared to the physician’s choice of chemotherapy.
Dr Baselga said: “Lynparza provides a much-needed alternative and improvement over standard-of-care chemotherapy for patients with BRCA-mutated, advanced ovarian cancer. This is the fourth positive Phase II/III trial in advanced ovarian cancer for Lynparza, across multiple lines of therapy.”
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