AstraZeneca's LATIFY Phase III NSCLC Trial Fails Primary Goal

AstraZeneca has announced that its LATIFY phase III trial didn't work out as planned. The trial was testing ceralasertib mixed with Imfinzi (durvalumab) against the usual docetaxel treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that had spread or was locally advanced. The goal was to see if the combo could help patients live longer.

The study involved patients from all over the world who didn't have genomic changes that could be targeted, and whose cancer had gotten worse after immunotherapy and platinum chemotherapy. While the combo didn't help people live longer in a way that was statistically, AstraZeneca mentioned that it was generally well-received by patients. 

The side effects were what they expected from the two drugs, and no new issues popped up. They'll share the full details at a medical conference later.

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Susan Galbraith, executive vice president, oncology haematology R&D, AstraZeneca, said they were trying to get the immune systems of patients responding again after they'd stopped responding to other treatments. She said it was a bummer that the trial didn't work, but that they’re still working hard to find new ways to treat lung cancer.

Lung cancer is still the biggest cancer killer worldwide, and NSCLC accounts for most cases. Even though LATIFY didn't go as planned, AstraZeneca is still working on a lot of ways to treat cancer, and Imfinzi is already approved for different types of lung and non-lung cancer around the world.