Shares of renowned vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN) slid on Tuesday due to late-stage studies on the company’s lung cancer treatment drug being a total letdown.
The stock was down by 5 per cent during pre-market hours following release of the clinical trial results on Monday.
At the ongoing World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Diego, an AstraZeneca representative said that the Dato-DXd drug “did not reach statistical significance.” Shares on the Nasdaq and other exchanges then had their most significant one-day drop in the past seven months.
Analysts and investors had been keeping tabs on this injectable drug’s development and had high hopes for it, but the most recent data from the “TROPION-Lung01” trial didn’t live up to expectations.
The drug is being jointly developed with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd – ADR (OTCMKTS: DSNKY). It is part of a drug class known as antibody drug conjugates, which are often used in conjunction with chemotherapy. Daiichi shares sunk by over 10 per cent on the trial results.
Moreover, success attributed to AstraZeneca and Daiichi’s recently developed breast cancer treatment drug Enhertu was another factor that propelled optimism for Dato-DXd. Now, further research and testing is needed if the treatment method is going to have any kind of future use.
The FDA will be assessing whether or not to approve the drug this December, but the recent unfavourable findings may delay this process.
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AstraZeneca invests US$300 million into Maryland research centre
In February, the company put a large sum of cash into a cell therapy research and development facility in the city of Rockville.
Oncology is the site’s number one focus. Therein, AstraZeneca aims to develop T-cell therapies that boost a patient’s immune system while attacking cancer.
The 84,000-square-foot centre is expected to be fully operational by 2026. AstraZeneca also has another R&D facility a few miles down the road.
“We look forward to watching this facility become a major player for the company and the life sciences community,” Maryland Department of Commerce Secretary, Kevin Anderson, said at the time.
AstraZeneca recently enhanced its stature in the cancer treatment market through the acquisition of Fusion Pharmaceuticals in June.
Vaccine controversies linger
Despite being a major influence in the biotech and pharmaceutical sector, the company’s COVID-19 vaccine is renowned for the being the most problematic and dangerous of them all.
In rare cases, which the company had admitted, the vaccine has been known to cause blood clots.
It is hard to find a precise number, but dozens of people have died from complications linked to the company’s vaccine in the UK, the United States and elsewhere.
In the UK alone, there has been over 80 lawsuits over the negative impact of the drug and resulting injuries or fatalities.
One man suffered severe brain damage from the jab in 2021, but lived to take legal action. The highly questionable product was pulled from the market completely earlier this year.
Chris Nemeth was forced to relearn how to walk after AstraZeneca left him permanently disabled.
Despite his 1000 page submission and so many injured left with no compensation, the government's Covid-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme is set to end soon
Chris's story highlights the… pic.twitter.com/h3L9CcObLs
— React19 (@React19org) September 10, 2024
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