This announcement, likely to favor the group’s prospects, caused the Novartis share price to rise by more than 6% on the Zurich Stock Exchange.
The pharmaceutical company also indicated that the data monitoring committee had recommended that the cancer trial be terminated before the scheduled date, since the primary endpoint of survival without invasive disease had been reached.
The drug’s Phase III trial against an early-stage form of breast cancer that grows in response to hormones showed that Kisqali significantly reduced the risk of recurrence when used alongside endocrine therapy, rather than with endocrine therapy alone, Novartis said.
Kisqali has been tested in high-risk and intermediate-risk patients.
The drug is already approved for the treatment of hormone-like breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, an area where it has taken market share from U.S. Pfizer’s Ibrance, but the treatment at an early stage of the disease is considered a much larger market.
Among competitors, Eli Lilly’s drug Verzenio has been approved for early treatment for women at high risk of recurrence after surgery.
“All other things being equal from an efficacy standpoint, it is expected that Kisqali could beat Verzenio by offering a more tailored side effect profile,” said Eric Le Berrigaud, analyst at Stifel.
Novartis intends to spin off its Sandoz generic drugs unit in the second half of the year, which will make the company more dependent on its drug development successes.
Kisqali, whose sales grew 31% to $1.2 billion in 2022, is one of two new drugs that play a particularly important role in Novartis’ future revenue growth.
The other is iptacopan, which is being tested against a rare genetic blood disorder and could compete with AstraZeneca’s Soliris and Ultomiris drugs.
(Report Ludwig Burger, written by Friederike Heine and Clarence Fernandez; French version Diana Mandiá)
