AstraZeneca shares dip after US regulatory panel rejects breast cancer drug

By Raechel Thankam Job and Pushkala Aripaka

May 1 (Reuters) – AstraZeneca shares fell 2.5% on Friday after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted overnight against recommending an experimental breast cancer treatment the drugmaker sees as key to its long-term growth ambitions.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted six to three against camizestrant, being developed for a type of breast cancer in which tumours have a specific mutation, citing concerns about study design rather than safety or efficacy itself.

The drugmaker expressed disappointment over the vote, but remained confident in camizestrant’s potential, saying it would continue working with the FDA, which typically follows the advice of its experts but is not bound by their recommendations.

Analysts appeared largely unfazed by the move, as the panel did not question camizestrant’s potential but rather the trial design. That suggests the drug could still win approval based on data from other studies, they said.

Later on Friday, Bernstein cut its target price on the stock to 18,600 pence from 20,500 pence, citing some limitations to gains on the stock as many investors already own shares.

AstraZeneca shares were trading at 13,612 pence apiece by 1237 GMT.

Nonetheless, Bernstein said the shares were still its top pick because of AstraZeneca’s “unrivaled track record” and a very strong pipeline of drugs.

Shares of the FTSE 100-listed drugmaker, which exceeded first-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday, have gained nearly 30% over the past year and outperformed the benchmark index, which was down 0.5% on Friday.

VOTE ‘MINOR’ SETBACK

  JPMorgan called the ODAC decision a “minor negative,” noting camizestrant would represent only about 1% of AstraZeneca’s overall valuation.

AstraZeneca expects up to 20 new medicine launches by 2030 to hit its $80 billion revenue target, including potential U.S. approval this year for camizestrant, the drug seen by the firm as generating over $5 billion in peak sales. 

“The panelists’ concerns were focused on the trial design, its endpoints, and its ability to establish clinical benefit. This leaves the door open for other (camizestrant) programs,” Leerink analysts said.

The camizestrant setback came on the same day the ODAC voted in favour of AstraZeneca’s Truqap drug for metastatic prostate cancer.

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)