STAT+: Breast cancer pill from AstraZeneca misses mark in pivotal trial

Andrew covers the biopharma industry, scientific research, and public health across the continent. You can reach Andrew confidentially on Signal at drewqjoseph.71.LONDON — AstraZeneca said Friday that a breast cancer pill failed in a pivotal trial testing it as a first-line therapy in advanced tumors, a result that could limit the use of the medicine. The drug, camizestrant, in combination with another medicine did not outperform standard treatment on a measure of how long patients went before their cancer progressed. The SERENA-4 trial enrolled patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced cancer who hadn’t had another systemic therapy for advanced disease. Camizestrant earlier this month won accelerated approval in the U.S. as Etcamah as a treatment for patients who develop a mutation in their tumors that’s a sign of emerging drug resistance. The SERENA-4 trial, had it been successful, could have opened up a much larger market for the drug. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers Unlock this article — plus daily coverage and analysis of the pharma industry — by subscribing to STAT+. Already have an account? Log in View All Plans To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+. Subscribe