Brilinta Target Cut After Trial -- WSJ

By Denise Roland 

AstraZeneca PLC cut its sales target for prescription blood-thinning medicine Brilinta after it failed to show a benefit over standard treatment in peripheral artery disease in a large clinical trial.

The U.K.-based drugmaker said Tuesday that Brilinta was no better than generic blood-thinner clopidogrel at reducing heart problems in people with peripheral artery disease, a condition in which a buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood flow to the leg muscles.

The failure cuts off a source of significant growth for Brilinta: peripheral artery disease affects around 8.5 million people in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Success could have boosted the drugs' sales by around $2 billion at peak, according to an estimate by UBS.

Ludovic Helfgott, head of the Brilinta franchise, said the company wouldn't now attain its target of raising sales of Brilinta to $3.5 billion by 2023. That goal was an important part of its overall target to nearly double revenue to $45 billion in the same period, unveiled to fend off an unwanted takeover approach from Pfizer Inc. nearly two years ago.

Mr. Helfgott said he nonetheless expected Brilinta to be a "key pillar of growth" and that the result didn't affect the company's overall growth targets, thanks to positive news on its new cancer and respiratory drugs.

The drugmaker is plowing significant investment into a huge clinical trial program for Brilinta, aimed at expanding its use. The drug is already marketed as a treatment for people who have suffered a heart attack, to lower their risk of having a second one. Sales of Brilinta were $619 million in 2015.

Those efforts have met with mixed results. Earlier this year, another large trial failed to show that Brilinta was any better than aspirin at preventing major heart problems in stroke patients. A final trial testing whether Brilinta reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems in people with type two diabetes is still under way, with results expected in early 2018.

Sean Bohen, executive vice president, Global Medicines Development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca, said he was disappointed with the results but said they didn't effect the "proven benefits of Brilinta in acute coronary syndrome and post-myocardial infarction patients," referring to those who have suffered a heart attack.

Shares in AstraZeneca were down 0.1% at GBP50.34 in midmorning trade.

Write to Denise Roland at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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