On November 10, when AstraZeneca announced its third-quarter 2022 results, it also announced that it would not submit a listing application for the new crown vaccine Vaxzervria in the United States given that the main vaccination needs in the United States have been met, adding that the company will Continuing efforts to make Vaxzervria available to the rest of the world, including filing applications for its use as a booster needle.
Sales of Vaxzervria fell to $173 million in the third quarter, compared with a high of $1.05 billion in the third quarter of 2021. However, the new crown neutralizing antibody Evusheld still received $537 million in sales this quarter.
In terms of pipeline progress, AstraZeneca has abandoned the development of several drugs, including: solid tumor drug candidate MEDI1191 developed in cooperation with Moderna, self-developed new chronic kidney disease drug MEDI8367, MCL1 inhibitor AZD5991 and co-developed PCSK9 antisense therapy with Ionis AZD8233 et al.
MEDI1191 is an IL-12 mRNA tumor vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Moderna. AstraZeneca launched the effect of PD-L1 monoclonal antibody Imfinzi combined with MEDI1191 in the treatment of solid tumors in 2019. Trial data released in April showed that three of the 31 patients who received the combination had a partial response. The lack of efficacy led AstraZeneca to abandon the therapy. However, MEDI1191 is still in Moderna’s product pipeline.
AstraZeneca also abandoned a monoclonal antibody MEDI8367 targeting ITGβ8, which aims to treat chronic kidney disease by inhibiting TGFβ activation in the kidney. The drug candidate entered the clinic in 2020, and in April 2022, AstraZeneca announced the completion of the study on its ClinicalTrials.gov website, enrolling only 12 despite an initial target of 70 subjects. subject. Today, the drug has also been removed from the pipeline.
AZD5991, a drug candidate for blood cancers, was suspended from clinical trials by the FDA last year due to cardiac safety concerns. In September, AstraZeneca changed the trial status of the Mcl-1 inhibitor to “discontinued”.
Another PCSK9 antisense therapy, AZD8233, was also removed from the pipeline by AstraZeneca. On September 23 this year, Ionis announced the key results of a phase IIb study (SOLANO), although AZD8233 significantly reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in patients with hypercholesterolemia. However, these results did not meet pre-specified efficacy criteria, and AstraZeneca decided not to advance it into a phase III study in hypercholesterolemia.
In general, large pharmaceutical companies have a rich product pipeline, and the exclusion of individual products, whether due to efficacy or safety issues or strategic considerations, will not have a significant impact on the company’s operations and development. In addition, timely stop loss is also an effective way to save resources.
