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The announcement sent shares of Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T) up 12% in early trading in Tokyo on Friday, raising expectations for its cancer drug pipeline. The companies will jointly and potentially commercialise the drug candidates worldwide, except in Japan where Daiichi Sankyo will maintain exclusive rights, they said. Merck will pay Daiichi Sankyo $4 billion upfront in addition to $1.5 billion in continuation payments over the next two years. Merck may make additional payments of up to $16.5 billion contingent on future sales milestones, or $5.5 billion for each product. Daiichi Sankyo has six ADC candidates in its pipeline, including two being jointly developed with AstraZeneca (AZN.L).

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Drugmaker Merck, patritumab, ifinatamab, raludotatug, Merck, David Dolan, Kanjyik Ghosh, Miyoung Kim, Jamie Freed Organizations: Merck & Co, REUTERS, Merck, AstraZeneca, Thomson Locations: Kenilworth , New Jersey, U.S, TOKYO, Daiichi, Tokyo, Japan, Bengaluru

☆ AstraZeneca shares fall as lung cancer drug trial data abstract disappoints
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 18 (Reuters) - Shares in AstraZeneca (AZN.L) fell more than 4% on Wednesday after a data abstract on its experimental precision drug's use in lung cancer patients in a late-stage trial disappointed some analysts. Fernandez added that progression-free survival in lung cancer patients came in below expectations. Barclays analyst Emily Field also said in a note that safety looked better than expected for lung cancer patients and the data abstracts were "collectively positive" for AstraZeneca. London-listed shares of AstraZeneca were down 3.7% at 1219 GMT, while the broader STOXX Health Care (.SXDP) index was off 1%. Shares of AstraZeneca's Japanese partner Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T), which is jointly developing the cancer drug, closed 4.6% lower on Tuesday.

Persons: Phil Noble, datopotamab deruxtecan, Jefferies, Stephen Barker, Barker, Seamus Fernandez, Fernandez, Emily Field, GSK's, Danilo Masoni, Maggie Fick, Bhanvi, Shinjini Organizations: AstraZeneca, REUTERS, European Society for Medical, Friday, Guggeinheim, Barclays, AstraZeneca ., Thomson Locations: Macclesfield, Britain, Madrid, AstraZeneca . London, U.S, Milan, London, Bengaluru

☆ Jefferies upgrades this pharma stock, citing overlooked 'blockbuster' drug opportunities
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

AstraZeneca's tozorakimab drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also seems underappreciated, with a potential to reach $4.5 billion in peak sales, according to Jefferies. The firm also suggests up to $3.5 billion in sales for AstraZeneca's eplontersen , a drug aimed at treating hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloid polyneuropathy. The pharmaceutical giant is also poised to be the frontrunner in breast cancer treatments. Another one of AstraZeneca's breast cancer therapies, also being developed with Daiichi Sankyo, came out with positive news Friday. Its experimental precision drug datopotamab deruxtecan demonstrated an improvement in slowing the progression of a common type of breast cancer in a late-stage trial.

Persons: Peter Welford, Welford, AstraZeneca's, Jefferies, AstraZeneca's eplontersen, transthyretin, deruxtecan, Pascal Soriot's, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: AstraZeneca, Jefferies, AstraZeneca's, Japan's, pharma Locations: Japan's Daiichi

SummaryCompanies Plans to file trial data with FDAComments sooth some investor concernsAbsence of "clinically meaningful" in interim trial data worried investorsLONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on Friday the company is "very encouraged" by interim data from a key lung cancer drug trial, but he did not explain why the company had not declared results as "clinically meaningful". The drugmaker's (AZN.L) shares fell by as much as 8% earlier this month after the company released interim data from the late-stage clinical trial called TROPION-Lung01 testing an experimental precision drug called datopotamab deruxtecan. Speaking to media on Friday after the company released better-than-expected quarterly results, Soriot said people would understand when full results are released why the company did not use that description, but he did not comment further. The company said on Friday it will continue with its plan to file data from the trial with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), soothing some investor concerns. In a briefing with analysts, Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology R&D, said the FDA response to the data so far had been "encouraging".

Persons: Pascal Soriot, Soriot, Susan Galbraith, Maggie Fick, Josephine Mason, David Evans, Susan Fenton Organizations: LONDON, AstraZeneca, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, FDA, U.S, Thomson

SummaryCompanies Q2 sales and earnings beat estimatesReiterates full-year guidanceNo revenue from COVID vaccine in Q2Shares up 3.1% in early tradeCompany is largest drugmaker in ChinaLONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L) on Friday delivered better-than-expected profits and sales in the second quarter as a strong performance of its blockbuster cancer drugs helped offset the loss of COVID-19 vaccine sales. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker posted an adjusted profit of $2.15 per share, up 25% and exceeding the $1.98 per share expected in company-compiled consensus estimates. Total revenue in the quarter was $11.4 billion, up 6% and beating company-compiled analyst estimates of $10.97 billion. Excluding COVID medicines, sales in China grew by 7% at constant exchange rates in the quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of growth on that basis. AstraZeneca is the largest drugmaker in China, which accounted for 13% of last year's revenue.

Persons: Swedish drugmaker, Pascal Soriot, Markus Manns, Alexion, drugmaker, Maggie Fick, Radhika Anilkumar, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Josephine Mason Organizations: AstraZeneca, UK's, Pfizer, Moderna, U.S, Union Investment, Thomson Locations: China LONDON, Swedish, China, London, Bengaluru

July 3 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said on Monday an experimental precision drug slowed progression of lung cancer in a late-stage trial, but the company's shares fell as much as 6% as analysts said the benefits may not be as pronounced as hoped. It declined to provide more trial details, saying they would be presented at an as yet undisclosed medical conference. At 0855 GMT, shares in AstraZeneca were down 5.8% at their lowest level in more than three months. Gilead (GILD.O) has pioneered the targeting of TROP2 with an ADC named Trodelvy, approved to treat certain types of breast and bladder cancer. AstraZeneca said that the datopotamab deruxtecan trial would continue as planned to assess the effect of the drug on overall survival of patients, another important efficacy criterion.

Persons: datopotamab, AstraZeneca, British drugmaker, Kelun, Maggie Fick, Ludwig Burger, Sinchita Mitra, Lucy Raitano, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Susan Fenton Organizations: AstraZeneca, Japan's, Merck & Co, Biotech of, Barclays, Thomson Locations: British, Biotech of China, London, Frankfurt, Bengaluru

☆ UK's FTSE 100 edges higher on mining boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SummarySummary Companies FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 adds 0.3%July 3 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 gained on Monday led by mining stocks on higher metal prices, while shares of other Chinese-exposed firms gained on rising hopes of more policy support in the world's second-largest economy. By 0715 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.2%, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) rose 0.3%. Industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) advanced 1.3% as prices of base metals rose, buoyed by improved sentiment. China-exposed banks HSBC (HSBA.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) rose 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively, while insurer Prudential (PRU.L) added 0.9% as hopes of more policy support grew after another weak data point and commentary from Chinese officials. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Drugmaker, Shashwat Chauhan, Rashmi Organizations: HSBC, Standard Chartered, Prudential, Drugmaker AstraZeneca, Thomson Locations: China, Bengaluru

The company also predicted a return to growth in China, one of its key markets, after reporting a second consecutive quarter of growth even as prices remain under pressure. Sales of its best-selling cancer drugs — Tagrisso, Imfinzi and Lynparza — came in just below estimates from Cowen analysts. Sales started to pick up in the second half of 2022 and in the fourth quarter grew by 3% at constant currency rates. Of key interest to investors is the experimental cancer drug, datopotamab deruxtecan, being evaluated in a keenly anticipated late-stage trial involving lung cancer patients. Partner Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T) this month said results of that study have been delayed to the second quarter from the first quarter of 2023.

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