Hutchmed shares rise 5% after positive Phase III lung cancer trial results
HUTCHMED China (HK:0013) shares rose on Monday after the drugmaker reported positive Phase III trial results for its lung cancer treatment, with the study showing an improvement in both how long patients lived without their disease worsening and overall survival.
Shares rose 5% to HK$20.14 after touching their highest level since May 11, before paring some gains. The move compared with a 1.6% change in the Hang Seng Index.
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The results came from the SAFFRON Phase III trial, which tested HUTCHMED’s ORPATHYS, or savolitinib, in combination with AstraZeneca’s TAGRISSO, or osimertinib.
The combination was compared with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors had specific changes linked to the MET protein and whose disease had progressed after treatment with TAGRISSO.
The trial met its main goal and a key additional goal, showing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival.
In simple terms, patients receiving the drug combination lived longer before their cancer worsened and also lived longer overall than those receiving chemotherapy.
That makes the result particularly important because MET-driven resistance is a common way for tumors to stop responding to newer EGFR-targeted treatments.
HUTCHMED said about one in three tumors can develop high levels of MET overexpression or amplification after progression on a third-generation EGFR treatment. These patients have limited targeted treatment options in later lines of therapy.
The global SAFFRON study enrolled 338 patients across 230 centers in 29 countries. The result could broaden the commercial opportunity for the ORPATHYS-TAGRISSO combination beyond China.
The treatment is already approved in China for certain patients with EGFR-mutated lung cancer and MET amplification, based on the earlier SACHI Phase III study.
HUTCHMED and AstraZeneca jointly develop the drug, while AstraZeneca handles commercialization.
The positive trial gives HUTCHMED and AstraZeneca a stronger case for seeking global regulatory approvals and potentially expanding access to an oral targeted treatment for patients whose cancers have developed resistance to TAGRISSO.
