AstraZeneca's Imfinzi-Based Regimen Shows Improved Event-Free Survival In Early-Stage Gastric Cancer Patients

On Friday, AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ:AZN) released high-level results from the MATTERHORN Phase 3 trial evaluating Imfinzi (durvalumab) as a perioperative treatment for patients with resectable Stage II-IVA gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers.

The trial showed that perioperative treatment with Imfinzi in combination with standard-of-care FLOT (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the primary endpoint of event-free survival (EFS).

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Patients were treated with neoadjuvant Imfinzi in combination with chemotherapy before surgery, followed by adjuvant Imfinzi in combination with chemotherapy, then Imfinzi monotherapy.

The trial evaluated this regimen versus perioperative chemotherapy alone for patients with resectable, early-stage and locally advanced (Stages II, III, IVA) gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers.

A strong trend was observed for the secondary endpoint of overall survival (OS) in favor of the Imfinzi-based regimen. The trial will follow OS, which will be formally assessed at the final analysis.

Gastric cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death globally, with nearly one million people diagnosed each year.

In 2024, there were roughly 43,000 drug-treated patients in the US, European Union, and Japan with early-stage and locally advanced gastric or GEJ cancer. Approximately 62,000 patients in these regions are expected to be newly diagnosed in this setting by 2030.

The safety profile for Imfinzi and FLOT chemotherapy was consistent with the known profiles of each medicine, and there were no new safety findings.

In a previously reported interim analysis for the key secondary endpoint of pathologic complete response (pCR), the Imfinzi combination more than doubled the pCR rate compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone.

Price Action: AZN stock is up 0.22% at $77.64 during the premarket session at the last check Friday.

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