AstraZeneca's Imfinzi Combo Shows Strong Survival Benefit in Liver Cancer Trial

The drugmaker ⁠said Imfinzi, ⁠when given in combination with other cancer treatments Imjudo and lenvatinib, along ​with a standard cancer-targeting procedure for early-stage liver cancer, showed a statistically significant and ​clinically meaningful improvement in the main study goal of progression-free survival.

This compared with when patients only underwent a procedure called transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

TACE is a ⁠procedure in ‌which chemotherapy treatments are injected into the liver's ​tumours, followed ​by the blocking of blood supply to the tumour, ⁠to stave it off.

In an interim analysis, ​the Imfinzi combination also showed an improvement in ​patients' overall survival, versus TACE alone, AstraZeneca said.

Patients in the investigational arm of the trial were treated with a single shot of Imjudo, followed by regular shots of Imfinzi, a standard early style of treatment. These were given with or without ‌lenvatinib, before TACE, and then alongside TACE.

Senior AstraZeneca executive Susan Galbraith said the results so far from the ​trial showed ​that starting the ⁠regimen earlier alongside TACE and lenvatinib could further improve outcomes.

Analysts at JP Morgan forecast peak annual sales of $11.3 billion for the Imfinzi + Imjudo ​combination, similar to Citi analysts, and above current market expectations of about $10.6 billion.

AstraZeneca last week said its experimental drug reduced flare-ups in patients with a chronic lung disease in late-stage trials, sending its shares up nearly 4%.