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 Giving Brilinta to patients who had a heart attack over a year ago
could more than double the number of people eligible for the
medicine, which the company has predicted could eventually generate
sales of $3.5 billion a year.
Results from the 21,000-patient study, known as PEGASUS, were
released on Wednesday, lifting shares in AstraZeneca 1.5 percent by
5:00 a.m. EST, while the wider London market fell one percent.
The trial, which studied subjects who had a heart attack within the
past one to three years, was designed to prove Brilinta's value
beyond its current approved use in patients with acute coronary
syndromes, or recent attacks.
Brilinta has struggled so far to gain traction in a competitive
market for blood thinners, where Plavix -- developed by Sanofi and
Bristol-Myers Squibb -- is now available as a cheap generic.
Brilinta also competes with Eli Lilly's Effient.
AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot has made Brilinta a top
priority and the company flagged its potential when he fought off a
$118 billion bid by Pfizer last year, forecasting annual sales of
$3.5 billion for the drug by 2023.
That makes Brilinta a critical component in AstraZeneca's wider goal
of reaching overall sales of $45 billion by 2023, although many
analysts remain skeptical.
The drug's sales in the first nine months of 2014 were $343 million
and consensus forecasts point to them hitting only $1.23 billion by
2019, according to Thomson Reuters Cortellis.
Tom Keith-Roach, vice president for Brilinta, told Reuters he
expected sales to strengthen through 2015 and the latest positive
trial results should lead to expanded approvals in major markets
over the next 18 months.
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"This is very important news for the franchise," he said.
Analysts agreed the study was a clear win for AstraZeneca but said
they wanted to see full details on the magnitude of clinical
benefit, as well as data on bleeding. All blood-thinning drugs can
cause bleeds.
So far, AstraZeneca has only said that the PEGASUS data was positive
for both the 60 mg and 90 mg doses of Brilinta, when given alongside
low-dose aspirin, and that preliminary analysis did not reveal any
unexpected safety issues.
Complete results from the study will be submitted to a scientific
meeting in 2015.
AstraZeneca is also conducting further studies looking at Brilinta's
use in stroke, peripheral artery disease and diabetes.
(Editing by Mark Potter and Keith Weir)
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