AstraZeneca Says Asthma Drug Tralokinumab Disappoints in Phase 3 Trials

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) said Wednesday that asthma drug Tralokinumab returned disappointing results in two different rounds of phase 3 trials.

In the first phase 3 trial, AstraZeneca said that Tralokinumab--a drug for the treatment of severe cases of the disease--did not achieve a statistically significant reduction in the annual asthma exacerbation rate, its primary endpoint.

In the second of the trials, the pharmaceutical company said that the drug did not achieve a statistically significant reduction in oral corticosteroid use by patients dependent on the treatment, which was its main aim.

AstraZeneca Chief Medical Officer Sean Bohen, who is also the company's executive vice president for global medicines development, said the results were disappointing as it was hope that Tralokinumab would benefit patients suffering with severe asthma.

Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 01, 2017 03:35 ET (07:35 GMT)