AstraZeneca and Daiichi's Breast Cancer Drug Meets Goal in Study

FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
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AstraZeneca and Daiichi's Breast Cancer Drug Meets Goal in Study

FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo

AstraZeneca said on Friday its experimental precision drug had slowed the progression of a common type of breast cancer in a late-stage trial, a boost for the company after its shares fell in July on results from a separate trial of the same drug for lung cancer.
The drug, datopotamab deruxtecan, which AstraZeneca is jointly developing with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, is being closely watched by analysts and investors in part due to the promise of the class of drugs to which it belongs, known as antibody drug conjugates (ADC).
ADCs consist of tumor-seeking monoclonal antibodies that are combined with a cell-killing chemotherapy payload.
The trial data released on Friday showed the drug, abbreviated as Dato-DXd, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in slowing the progression of a type of breast cancer in trial participants, compared to patients who received other treatments such as chemotherapy.
The trial focused on tumors that grow in response to the hormones estrogen or progesterone, which account for roughly two-thirds of breast cancer cases. The study participants' disease had spread to other parts of the body.
The British drugmaker also said that there was a "trend in improvement" in the other main goal of the study, "overall survival" of patients, but the data on that was not mature so the trial would continue as planned.
AstraZeneca shares rose 1.7% in early trading, to their highest level in more than five weeks.
AstraZeneca is simultaneously developing the drug for use in lung cancer, and while data from a separate late-stage trial released in July was positive, the market was concerned that the drug's benefits for use in lung cancer treatment might not as pronounced as hoped, leading shares to fall more than 6% on the day the data was released.
The company has not said when it will release detailed data from the lung cancer study.
Analysts see the positive results from the breast cancer trial as good for AstraZeneca, but the market is more focused on the results of a trial called MARIPOSA by Johnson & Johnson. It compares AstraZeneca’s blockbuster cancer drug Tagrisso alone with its own drug, Rybrevant, in combination with another medicine.
Those results are expected later this year.



Man Rescued from Mount Fuji Twice in One Week

Climbers gather on the first day of the climbing season at Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail (Yoshida Route) at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan July 1, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Climbers gather on the first day of the climbing season at Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail (Yoshida Route) at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan July 1, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato
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Man Rescued from Mount Fuji Twice in One Week

Climbers gather on the first day of the climbing season at Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail (Yoshida Route) at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan July 1, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Climbers gather on the first day of the climbing season at Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail (Yoshida Route) at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan July 1, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato

A man in his 20s was airlifted from Japan's Mount Fuji then rescued again from its steep slopes just days later because he returned to find his phone, according to media reports.

Police told AFP the Chinese university student, who lives in Japan, was found Saturday by another off-season hiker on a trail more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) above sea level.

"He was suspected of having altitude sickness and was taken to hospital," a police spokesman in Shizuoka region said on Monday.

Later, officers discovered that the man was the same one who had been rescued on Mount Fuji four days previously, private broadcaster TBS and other media outlets reported.

Police could not immediately confirm the reports, which said the man -- having been rescued by helicopter on Tuesday -- returned on Friday to retrieve his mobile phone, which he forgot to bring with him during the first rescue.

It was not known whether he was able to find his phone in the end, said the reports, citing unnamed sources.

Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan's highest peak, is covered in snow for most of the year.

Its hiking trails are open from early July to early September, a period when crowds trudge up the steep, rocky slopes through the night to see the sunrise.

People are dissuaded from hiking outside of the summer season because conditions can be treacherous.

The symmetrical 3,776-meter mountain has been immortalized in countless artworks, including Hokusai's "Great Wave". It last erupted around 300 years ago.

In a bid to prevent overcrowding on Mount Fuji, authorities last year brought in an entry fee and cap on numbers for the most popular Yoshida Trail.

Starting this summer, hikers on any of Mount Fuji's four main trails will be charged an entry fee of 4,000 yen ($27).