AstraZeneca's Lynparza meets main goal in breast cancer study

(Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) said Lynparza, already approved to treat ovarian cancer, met the main goal of helping breast cancer patients live longer without their condition worsening in a late-stage study.

The drugmaker's shares were up 2.37 percent at 4,554 pence on the London Stock Exchange, while its U.S.-listed shares (AZN.N) were up 1.70 percent at $29.25 in premarket trading on Friday.

Lynparza, which won U.S. approval for ovarian cancer in 2014 and generated 2016 sales of $218 million (£175 million), is one of the drugs that the drugmaker hopes will help achieve its target of more than $40 billion in annual revenue in 2023.

The study result should further establish Lynparza's competitive profile beyond a subset of ovarian cancers with multiple other tumours and combination opportunities ahead, Morgan Stanley analysts said.

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 study compared Lynparza with chemotherapy in patients with BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer and is the first positive trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a PARP inhibitor beyond ovarian cancer, the British drugmaker said.

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.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)