AstraZeneca to Showcase Transformative Advances in Cancer Therapy at WCLC and ESMO 2024

China Finance Network, September 4th — At the 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) from September 7th to 10th, 2024, and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Congress held from September 13th to 17th, 2024, AstraZeneca will present over 130 abstracts. These include 17 approved drugs and potential new medicines, featuring 5 President Symposium presentations and 41 oral reports.

Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca and Head of Oncology R&D, stated: "At these two conferences, our presentations have strongly advanced AstraZeneca's long-term strategy to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and treatment. At the World Conference on Lung Cancer, we will showcase the results of our computational pathology platform, which we are currently using in antibody-drug conjugate combinations to develop predictive biomarkers, precisely enhance patient selection, and improve treatment outcomes. Additionally, we will share research data on datopotamab deruxtecan, a TROP2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate, combined with durvalumab for the treatment of early-stage lung cancer. This marks the first time we are releasing data from clinical trials involving two of our self-developed antibody-drug conjugates, and the results are highly encouraging. Furthermore, significant progress has been made in our next-generation immunotherapy."

AstraZeneca’s Global Executive Vice President and Head of Oncology, David Fredrickson, said, "The data we are presenting at the World Conference on Lung Cancer and the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress will showcase AstraZeneca's achievements in driving several major trends that are transforming cancer treatment today and could continue to do so in the future. In the NIAGARA clinical trial for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, durvalumab achieved positive results, highlighting the importance of perioperative immunotherapy in this population. Additionally, the research data on datopotamab deruxtecan and trastuzumab deruxtecan in various types of lung cancer will further underscore how antibody-drug conjugates hold the potential to replace traditional chemotherapy in the treatment of multiple cancer conditions."

It is reported that at the ESMO Presidential Symposium, AstraZeneca will present the results of the NIAGARA Phase III trial, a clinical study designed to evaluate the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with durvalumab before radical cystectomy and adjuvant monotherapy with durvalumab post-surgery in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. This durvalumab-based treatment regimen demonstrated positive outcomes, showing statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in both event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS), making it the first perioperative immunotherapy regimen to demonstrate extended survival in a Phase III trial for bladder cancer.

At the WCLC "Presidential Symposium on Latest Breakthroughs," an exploratory analysis of tissue samples collected from TROPION-Lung01 using AstraZeneca's proprietary computational pathology platform—Quantitative Continuous Scoring (QCS)—will make TROP2, as calculated by QCS, a promising predictive biomarker for treatment with datopotamab deruxtecan.

In addition, the overall survival data from the TROPION-Lung01 Phase III clinical study will be presented as a "late-breaking oral presentation." This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of datopotamab deruxtecan in treating patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC. In May this year, a series of high-quality positive results showed that, compared to docetaxel (the current standard chemotherapy drug), datopotamab deruxtecan demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival among patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC who had previously received immunotherapy or targeted therapy.

At the WCLC, the first part of the DESTINY-Lung03 Phase Ib trial data will be presented orally, highlighting the efficacy and safety of trastuzumab deruxtecan. This trial is based on the data from the DESTINY-Lung01 Phase II clinical study, with patients being those previously treated for HER2-overexpressing unresectable locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC.

At ESMO, the potential efficacy of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in the DESTINY-Breast12 Phase IIIb/IV clinical trial for previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients will be presented in an oral report as the latest breakthrough. Some of the participants also have brain metastases. Additionally, the oral presentation of the DESTINY-Gastric03 Phase Ib/II clinical trial will introduce the safety and efficacy of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan combined with chemotherapy and Pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment regimen for HER2-positive gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers.

A brief oral report will be presented at ESMO, unveiling for the first time the initial treatment results of datopotamab deruxtecan TROPION-PanTumour03 Phase II clinical study in endometrial and ovarian cancers.

AstraZeneca will present multiple reports at ESMO, showcasing the company's emerging proprietary ADC technology. These include sharing dose escalation results from the BLUESTAR I/IIa clinical study of B7-H4 ADC AZD8205 in treating advanced solid tumors expressing B7-H4 through an optimized written report. B7-H4 is overexpressed in various solid tumors and is considered a promising ADC target. AZD8205 is the first ADC to enter clinical trials, carrying a proprietary novel topoisomerase I inhibitor (TOP1i) payload linked via a linker. Previous reports have indicated that AZD8205 demonstrates potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models with B7-H4 expression across various tumor types.

In addition, the dose escalation results of the Phase I/IIa clinical trial AZD5335 FONTANA in humans were disclosed for the first time via a poster. The study results showed that AZD5335 demonstrated favorable clinical activity, pharmacokinetic properties, and manageable safety in patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. This ADC, which conjugates a FRα-targeting antibody with a proprietary TOP1i payload, has previously been reported to exhibit potent antitumor activity in preclinical models expressing FRα that are resistant to another FRα ADC carrying a microtubule inhibitor payload.