© Reuters.
By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com — Stocks in Novartis AG (SIX:) posted its biggest intraday rise in fifteen months on Monday after the pharmaceutical giant announced positive results from a highly anticipated trial of its drug used to treat hormone-driven early-stage breast cancer.
In a statement, the Swiss company said a Phase III study of around 5,100 adults found that its breast cancer drug Kisqali, when combined with endocrine therapy, “significantly” reduces the risk of disease recurrence in women. comparison with endocrine therapy alone.
An independent expert panel also recommended that the trial be stopped early because its primary goal of helping patients survive and be free of breast cancer had been met.
“These data have the potential to change the paradigm for patients at risk of recurrence,” said Novartis chief medical officer Shreeram Aradhye. “Our teams are working on shipments to health authorities around the world in the hope of bringing Kisqali to many more patients diagnosed with breast cancer.”
The trial results showed clinically significant benefit in a broad population and will likely drive at least a 2% to 4% improvement in consensus earnings estimates for Novartis, Jefferies analysts said.
Novartis is increasingly betting on the success of its drug development pipeline as the company looks to spin off its Sandoz generic drug unit in the second half of 2023. Kisqali, whose sales rose nearly a third to $1.2B last year , could play an important role in this strategy, and ZKB analysts note that the test results may boost sales by as much as $12.7 billion.
Novartis did not provide further details about the trial, saying only that full results will be presented at an “upcoming medical meeting.” The date and venue of this conference were not disclosed.