UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZ; NASDAQ: AZN) has announced positive data from a Phase Ib study for the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) datopotamab deruxtecan in combination with checkpoint inhibitor Imfinzi (durvalumab). The study, conducted in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568), focused on first-line advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients without actionable genomic alterations. The combination therapy demonstrated performance independent of PD-L1 expression levels, with an objective response rate (ORR) of 50.0% and a disease control rate (DCR) of 92.9%. When carboplatin was included in the cohort, these rates improved to 76.9% and 92.3%, respectively. The study did not identify any new safety signals.
Late-Stage Trials for the Combination Therapy
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo are currently advancing the combination through late-stage trials. If the positive results are confirmed in these larger studies, datopotamab deruxtecan could potentially become the first TROP2-directed ADC to receive approval for the treatment of lung cancer, marking a significant advancement in the field of targeted oncology therapies.-Fineline Info & Tech
