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 The drugmaker said the disappointing result in uveal melanoma would
not affect other studies using the drug. Selumetinib is being
investigated primarily as a treatment for advanced non-small cell
lung cancer.
Selumetinib belongs to a class of cancer drugs known as MEK
inhibitors, which includes Novartis's approved product Mekinist and
the experimental compound cobimetinib from Roche and Exelixis.
Current consensus analyst forecasts for selumetinib, which is
designed for use alongside chemotherapy, point to relatively minor
sales of $305 million in 2020, according to Thomson Reuters
Cortellis.
Berenberg analyst Alistair Campbell said the failure of the Phase
III trial, known as SUMIT, was a surprise after very promising Phase
II data.
"However, selumetinib is not one of the big three oncology drugs
(AZD9291, Lynparza and MEDI4736) that will lead the turnaround of
Astra's fortunes in oncology," he wrote in a note.
Shares in the drugmaker fell 0.7 percent in early trading.
Uveal melanoma is a disease in which cancer cells grow in the
tissues of the eye. Although rare, it is the most common primary
intraocular malignancy in adults and accounts for 5 percent of all
melanomas.
The bigger commercial opportunity for AstraZeneca would be in using
the drug in lung cancer. Selumetinib is also being studied in
thyroid cancer and neurofibromatosis, a condition in which tumors
grow along the nerves.
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"Selumetinib is supported by a strong development program with
different scientific rationale in multiple tumor types as both
monotherapy and in alternative combinations," said AstraZeneca's
oncology development head Antoine Yver.
"The findings from SUMIT have no impact on the other studies and we
look forward to presenting the data in due course."
Oncology is a priority area for AstraZeneca and the group aims to
launch six new cancer medicines by 2020.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Louise Heavens and Keith
Weir; by Louise Heavens)
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