AstraZeneca reports positive breast cancer data for Faslodex

AstraZeneca has announced new clinical trial data showing the benefits the drug Faslodex in the treatment of advanced breast cancer.

Results from the phase III FALCON trial showed that Faslodex can deliver a better performance in treating locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer than Arimidex, an established cancer drug from AstraZeneca.

Evaluating a cohort of postmenopausal women who have not had prior hormonal treatment for hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, the trial showed that Faslodex demonstrated superiority compared with Arimidex, meeting its primary endpoint of extended progression-free survival.

Meanwhile, the newer therapy was also associated with an adverse event profile generally consistent with current knowledge.

Sean Bohen, executive vice-president for global medicines development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca, said: "Faslodex has over ten years of clinical evidence and we are committed to exploring its potential along with the rest of our outstanding oncology portfolio."

This comes after the firm announced data from two phase III clinical trials earlier this month, which demonstrated the strong performance of its promising new asthma therapy benralizumab.