AstraZenca has  announced positive results from a Phase III trial of its breast cancer treatment Lynparza, already approved to treat ovarian cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer patients treated with the drug “showed a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement” compared with patients who received chemotherapy”  said the company.

Lynparza belongs to a closely watched class of new medicines called PARP inhibitors, which block enzymes involved in repairing damaged DNA, thereby helping to kill cancer cells.
The trial results represent a win for AstraZeneca as well as providing the first validation for the PARP inhibitor class outside of ovarian cancer, Leerink Partners analysts wrote in a client note.

These results give to AstraZeneca a  leg up over rival pharmaceuticals companies racing to be first to market with new oncology drugs.

Before last December  Abbvie was close to beating AstraZeneca with a DDR drug for breast cancer, but the medication, veliparib, failed in late-stage clinical trials.

AstraZeneca will submit the drug for approval in the US in the second half of the year.

 Lynparza is also been tested for other forms of cancer, such as prostate cancer.

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