FILE PHOTO: The company logo for pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) -AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on Friday the company is "very encouraged" by interim data from a key lung cancer drug trial, but he did not explain why the company had not declared results as "clinically meaningful".
The drugmaker's shares fell by as much as 8% earlier this month after the company released interim data from the late-stage clinical trial called TROPION-Lung01 testing an experimental precision drug called datopotamab deruxtecan.
At the time, investors were disappointed the company did not say the data was "clinically meaningful", a potential suggestion that the benefits may not be as pronounced as hoped.
Speaking to media on Friday after the company released better-than-expected quarterly results, Soriot said people would understand when full results are released why the company did not use that description, but he did not comment further.
"We are very encouraged because we're seeing the totality of the data," he said, adding that the company had described them as "statistically positive".
The company said on Friday it will continue with its plan to file data from the trial with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), soothing some investor concerns.
In a briefing with analysts, Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology R&D, said the FDA response to the data so far had been "encouraging".
Executives on the briefing would not say when final data will be released or at which medical conference, or when the company will file for approval for the drug with the U.S. drug regulator.
(Reporting by Maggie Fick and Josephine Mason; editing by David Evans and Susan Fenton)
