AstraZeneca-Amgen asthma drug succeeds in late-stage oesophagus disease trial

AstraZeneca said on Thursday its asthma drug Tezspire met the main goals of a late-stage trial in patients with a chronic inflammatory disorder of the ‌oesophagus, offering the company a boost after a string of pipeline setbacks. While the outcome could help restore some confidence in AstraZeneca's pipeline, which has been squeezed by a series of trial failures and regulatory setbacks, investors remain focused on the upcoming results of two cancer trials seen as more supportive of ‌the company's growth prospects and share price.

Tezspire, developed with Amgen, significantly reduced inflammation in the oesophagus and eased difficulty in swallowing versus ‌a placebo at 52 weeks in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis, the study showed. The condition affects more than 470,000 people in the United States. CEO Pascal Soriot is steering AstraZeneca towards its target of $80 billion in annual sales by 2030, counting on up to 20 new drug launches as the company grapples with patent expiries and trial disappointments. In ⁠July, nerve ​disease drug Wainua unexpectedly failed a ⁠heart disease trial, while an advanced study of rare disease drug Ultomiris also failed. In May, a U.S. regulatory panel rejected its breast cancer drug camizestrant on trial design ⁠grounds. AstraZeneca also halted a late-stage study of experimental lung cancer drug volrustomig this month after a committee overseeing the trial said it was unlikely to meet ​its main goal.

The company's shares were down 0.6% by 1114 GMT on Thursday, having fallen 14% since Wainua's trial failure. TEZSPIRE ⁠ADVANTAGE

Tezspire is a monoclonal antibody that works early in the inflammation cascade by blocking a protein known as TSLP, which can trigger inflammation in conditions driven by eosinophils, a type ⁠of ​white blood cell, as well as severe asthma. The trial's primary investigator, Arjan Bredenoord told Reuters that Tezspire's four-week dosing interval gives the drug an advantage over all existing therapies.

Existing treatments include medicines that target different proteins, but may not be as effective in treating epithelial-driven inflammatory ⁠diseases, AstraZeneca said. Eosinophilicesophagitis patients are also given topical steroids and drugs that reduce stomach acid production and are often accompanied with dietary restrictions. ⁠Patients were allowed to remain on these ⁠background medications in the trial.

Tezspire is already approved in a number of countries as an add-on treatment for severe asthma and competes with Sanofi and Regeneron's blockbuster drug Dupixent. It generated $1.13 billion in sales for AstraZeneca ‌and $1.48 billion for Amgen ‌in 2025.