AZ "Expanding Asia-based evidence…solid cancer trt options"

Held a media briefing at the ESMO ASIA…unveiled clinical results in the areas of breast, lung, and gastric cancers

Strengthening early diagnosis and precision medicine strategies…"Aim to launch 10 new anticancer agents by 2030"

AstraZeneca (AZ) highlighted the importance of building clinical evidence and a research network in Asia while presenting new therapeutic options across major solid tumor area.

The company announced that it aims to have its treatments administered to one in three liver cancer patients, one in three bile duct cancer patients, and one in seven gastric cancer patients by 2030, emphasizing that Asia is the core driver of this vision. 

AstraZeneca explained that 60–70% of patients participating in its gastrointestinal (GI) cancer clinical trials are recruited from Asia, and with approximately 50 research sites operating across the region, Asia is playing a central role in global development.명이다. 

Key data unveiled for breast, lung, and GI cancers..."Survival improvement consistent in Asian patients"

According to industry sources on December 10, AstraZeneca held a media briefing at the recent European Society for Medical Oncology Asia (ESMO Asia 2025) annual meeting in Singapore. Senior global executives from AZ uniformly stated that Asia is emerging as the central axis for new drug development, clinical evidence generation, and early diagnostic technology, moving beyond being just a participating region.

From left, Eldana Sauran, Asia Oncology Director, Sylvia Varela, Vice President for AstraZeneca, Mark Sims, Vice President for AstraZeneca, Katy Miller, Vice President for AstraZeneca, Osama Rahma, Vice President for AstraZeneca

The executives particularly emphasized that the research disclosed at the conference, focusing on cancers with high incidence and unmet clinical needs in Asia, including lung, breast, and gastrointestinal cancers, will become "the evidence driving future changes to the global standard of care."

AstraZeneca summarized and shared the latest data presented at the conference across major cancer types, including HER2-positive breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), EGFR-mutated lung cancer, and early-stage gastric, liver, and bile duct cancers.

First, ​in breast cancer, the key updates included ▲the potential of 'Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) + Perjeta (pertuzumab)' as a first-line therapy for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer ▲Enhertu's role in the neoadjuvant preoperative setting ▲survival improvements demonstrated by 'Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan)' in PD-L1-negative TNBC patients. It was strongly highlighted that the effects observed in the Asian patients were consistent with global findings.

Sylvia Varela, Vice President for AstraZeneca, explained, "The Enhertu-based combination therapy in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer showed the potential to surpass the limitations of the existing standard of care, and Datroway showed survival improvement in first-line triple-negative breast cancer, where immunotherapy is challenging. The shift towards ADC-centric treatment in breast cancer is fully underway."

For lung cancer, clinical data were released concerning Asian patient characteristics, where EGFR mutations are particularly prevalent.

Mark Sims, Vice President for AstraZeneca, noted that the 'Phase 3 NeoADAURA' study of neoadjuvant Tagrisso confirmed maintenance of patient quality of life and the Phase 3 'FLAURA2' study (Tagrisso + chemotherapy) achieved a median Overall Survival (OS) of nearly 4 years.

Sims assessed, "The strategy of moving therapeutic intervention to an earlier stage, from early-stage disease to metastatic disease, is yielding definitive results in Asian patients as well. Furthermore, consistent PFS improvement was reported in the Asian subgroup analysis for the savolitinib combination strategy targeting MET resistance mechanisms."

For major GI cancers, including gastric, liver, and bile duct cancers, positive data for the immune checkpoint inhibitor 'Imfinzi (durvalumab)' were also presented across. Key studies included ▲MATTERHORN study, which demonstrated a new treatment axis in early-stage gastric cancer ▲SIERRA study, which confirmed therapeutic benefit for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) with high unmet needs ▲TOURMALINE study, which demonstrated additional potential for the Imfinzi + gemcitabine combination.

Katy Miller, Vice President for AstraZeneca, stressed, "A total of four GI-related studies were selected for oral presentation at ESMO Asia. This clearly demonstrates the high level of interest the oncology community has in these disease groups, and how critical these diseases are in the Asian region."

Strengthening next-generation platform, precision medicine, and combination strategies

Given the high cancer burden in Asia, AstraZeneca stated that the region will also be the center of development for next-generation oncology platforms.

AstraZeneca presented its multi-mechanistic pipeline, including ▲next-generation ADCs (HER2, CLDN18.2) ▲the TIGIT-based bispecific antibody rilvegostemab ▲GPC3 CAR-T and T-cell engagers ▲next-generation PARP and PRMT5 inhibitors, and EGFR/MET-targeted radioconjugates. The core strategic directions presented were 'early stage intervention, precision targeting strategies, and presenting new combination possibilities to overcome resistance.

AstraZeneca hosted a media briefing at the ESMO Asia 2025 event in Singapore to share its vision.

Through this presentation, AstraZeneca clearly affirmed that Asia will play a decisive role in the future global oncology ecosystem.

Since 60–70% of clinical trial participants are recruited from Asia and the majority of research is based on Asian data, evidence from Asia is expected to become even more important in future drug approval and reimbursement discussions.

Osama Rahma, Vice President for AstraZeneca, stated, "We aim to move effective treatments to the earlier stages of the disease, because the earlier we intervene, the closer we can lead more patients to a cure," and added, "60–70% of patients participating in GI cancer clinical trials are recruited from Asia, and approximately 50 active clinical trial sites are operating across the region. We will continue our close collaboration with researchers and clinicians throughout Asia."

VP Varela stated, "The proportion of cancer patients in Asia is continuously increasing. Cancer burden in Asia is expected to grow further due to population growth, aging, industrialization, increased exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens, and lifestyle changes," and emphasized, "AstraZeneca aims to launch 20 new medicines by 2030, half of which are in oncology. Our vision is to eliminate cancer as a cause of death through therapeutic innovation and achieve health equity by improving access to diagnosis, treatment, and early detection."