Positive results reported from AstraZeneca-Daiichi Sankyo breast cancer drug

AstraZeneca reported early this week that Enhertu showed improvement in progression-free survival among patients with HR-positive metastatic breast cancer

Thes results were part of an oral presentation during the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Enhertu  was discovered by Daiichi Sankyo and jointly developed and commercialized by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo.

AstraZeneca has headquarters, logistics, distribution and packaging sites in northern Delaware.

In the primary analysis of the DESTINY-Breast06 trial, results showed Enhertu reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 38%. Median progression free survival was 13.2 months with Enhertu  compared to 8.1 months for chemotherapy.

Susan Galbraith, executive vice president, Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, said: “DESTINY-Breast06 represents another potential paradigm shift in how we treat patients across the spectrum of HR-positive metastatic breast cancer. The results reinforce the potential for Enhertu to improve outcomes earlier in the treatment landscape and in a broader population of patients with HER2-expressing breast cancer who have never before been eligible for a HER2-directed therapy.”

Ken Takeshita, global head of R&D at Daiichi Sankyo, said: “Enhertu continues to deliver pioneering results for HER2-directed medicine across many different types of cancer. These latest results from DESTINY-Breast06 demonstrate clinically meaningful results with Enhertu even in tumors with very low levels of HER2 expression, suggesting that it may have an important role in treating a wide range of HER2-expressing metastatic breast cancer.”

In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Enhertu for adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive solid tumors who have received prior systemic treatment and have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. More than two million breast cancer cases were diagnosed in 2022 with more than 665,000 deaths globally. While survival rates are high for those diagnosed with early breast cancer, only approximately 30% of patients who are diagnosed with or who progress to metastatic disease are expected to live five years after their diagnosis.

HR-positive and HER2-negative are the most common breast cancer subtype, accounting for approximately 70% of all breast cancers. Despite being classified as HER2-negative, many of these tumors still carry some level of HER2 expression.