AstraZeneca's Multi-Tumor Opportunity Still Exists

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE: AZN) announced that Lynparza, which has already received approval for ovarian cancer, failed to meet the overall survival endpoint in gastric cancer in the PII GOLD trials.

Sachin Jain of Bank of America Merrill Lynch maintains a Buy rating on the company, with a price target of GBP 5,000.

What The Failure Means

“While the miss is disappointing, we see no change to forecasts as gastric was the smallest of the multiple indications Lynparza is being investigated in, and we do not believe negative data is gastric cancer necessarily has read-through to the other indications,” Jain mentioned.

The analyst continues to forecast risk adjusted peak sales of $1.5 billion for Lynparza, across indications.

“AZN has suggested the GOLD trial is unlikely to provide a read-through to other indications due to differences in the trial design,” the analyst stated.

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Other Data Points Awaited

Jain noted that AstraZeneca still had several PARP data points that were likely to be announced later in the year, including early combination data of Lynparza is expected at ASCO 16.

PIII data for multiple tumors from the OLYMPIAD study in metastatic breast cancer is expected in 2H16, along with PII data in combination with Zytiga in prostate cancer.

“Earlier lines of ovarian cancer: Data from the SOLO2 study due 2H16 is required to convert Lynparza to full approval, and could expand usage to an earlier line of therapy,” Jain added.