AstraZeneca Plc ( LSE:AZN), a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company, and MSD Inc (NYSE:MRK) (known as Merck & Co Inc inside the US and Canada), an American, multinational pharmaceutical company, announced on Monday detailed positive results from the phase III PAOLA-1 trial, showing Lynparza (olaparib) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) in women with newly-diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer.

Reportedly, this trial compared Lynparza when added to standard-of-care (SoC) bevacizumab vs. bevacizumab alone in women in the first-line maintenance setting, irrespective of their genetic biomarker status or outcome from previous surgery. Investigator -assessed results showed Lynparza added to bevacizumab reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 41% (equal to a hazard ratio of 0.59) and improved PFS to a median of 22.1 months vs. 16.6 months for those treated with bevacizumab alone.

Also, at two years since trial initiation, 46% of women treated with Lynparza added to bevacizumab showed no disease progression vs. 28% of women receiving bevacizumab alone. The safety and tolerability profile of Lynparza and bevacizumab were consistent with those known from previous trials for each medicine and with no detriment to quality of life.

These results were presented during the Presidential Symposium of the 2019 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Lynparza, which is being jointly developed and commercialised by AstraZeneca and MSD, is approved for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and metastatic breast cancer. It is the only PARP inhibitor with positive phase III trials in four different cancer types (ovarian, breast, pancreatic and prostate).

PAOLA-1 is a double-blind phase III trial testing the efficacy and safety of Lynparza added to SoC bevacizumab vs. bevacizumab alone, as a first-line maintenance treatment for newly-diagnosed advanced FIGO Stage III-IV high grade serous or endometroid ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer patients who had a complete or partial response to 1st-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and bevacizumab.

AstraZeneca is focussed on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in the three therapy areas of Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM) and Respiratory.