TOKYO/BASKING RIDGE - Daiichi Sankyo, a prominent pharmaceutical company with a market capitalization of $49 billion and an "GREAT" financial health rating according to InvestingPro, and AstraZeneca's ENHERTU demonstrated a 53% reduction in the risk of invasive disease recurrence or death compared to trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) in patients with HER2 positive early breast cancer, according to data presented Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.
The phase 3 DESTINY-Breast05 trial showed patients treated with ENHERTU had a three-year invasive disease-free survival rate of 92.4% versus 83.7% for those receiving T-DM1 as a post-neoadjuvant treatment. The trial focused on patients with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant therapy who faced a high risk of recurrence. The company's strong research initiatives are supported by impressive financial metrics, including a 78.5% gross profit margin and 14% revenue growth over the last twelve months.
ENHERTU also reduced the risk of distant disease recurrence by 51% and the risk of brain metastases by 36% compared to T-DM1. The three-year distant recurrence-free interval was 93.9% with ENHERTU versus 86.1% with T-DM1.
"For patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant treatment, the post-neoadjuvant setting represents a critical second opportunity to reduce recurrence risk," said Charles Geyer, Principal Investigator for the trial and Professor of Medicine at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
The safety profile remained consistent with previous studies. Grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events occurred in 50.6% of ENHERTU patients compared to 51.9% with T-DM1. Interstitial lung disease or pneumonitis events were reported in 9.6% of ENHERTU patients, with the majority being low grade.
The DESTINY-Breast05 trial enrolled 1,635 patients across multiple regions. All participants had received prior neoadjuvant chemotherapy and HER2 targeted therapy, with most patients also receiving radiotherapy treatment.
The findings were presented alongside results from the DESTINY-Breast11 trial, highlighting ENHERTU's potential in early-stage breast cancer treatment. The information in this article is based on a company press release statement. According to InvestingPro analysis, Daiichi Sankyo is currently trading below its Fair Value, with 8 additional ProTips available to subscribers, including detailed insights into the company's financial strength and market position.
In other recent news, AstraZeneca, in collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo, announced that their drug Datroway achieved significant milestones in the Phase III TROPION-Breast02 trial. The trial, involving patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, showed Datroway's improvement in overall and progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy. Additionally, Datroway, combined with rilvegostomig, showed promising results in a Phase 2 trial for urothelial cancer, with high response and disease control rates. In another development, the FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to raludotatug deruxtecan, jointly developed by Daiichi Sankyo and Merck, for certain ovarian and related cancers. Furthermore, ifinatamab deruxtecan, a B7-H3 directed antibody drug conjugate, demonstrated a 48.2% response rate in a trial for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. These developments highlight ongoing advancements in cancer treatment by AstraZeneca and its partners.
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