Astrazeneca in heart drug boost after torrid summer

AN ASTRAZENECA heart disease drug has been proven to reduce by almost a third the chances of dying from a second heart attack when taken longterm, according to newly released data from the FTSE 100 giant.

Astrazeneca said patients taking its drug ticagrelor alongside aspirin for a second year after an initial heart attack had a 29pc reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular failure, in a fresh readout from its clinical study, Pegasus.

The results, published yesterday, boost the company after a torrid summer during which Pascal Soriot, its chief executive, has been linked with a move away, and the firm suffered its biggest one-day share price crash on a negative readout from its lung cancer trial Mystic, wiping £10bn from its market value.

Astrazeneca is keen to turn the attention to its other potential big-drug earners, including in its largest division, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, which accounts for more than a third of its $23bn (£18bn) sales.

The drug ticagrelor spotlighted yesterday is already well on its way to being a blockbuster, with first-half sales for 2017 up over a quarter to $496m.

It is typically prescribed to patients for use in the first year after a heart attack before they switch to just aspirin.

But Astrazeneca hopes the fresh clinical data will lead to it being prescribed more widely for use after the first year. European and UK medicines regulators approved this use of ticagrelor last year.

People who have a heart attack are on average 20pc likely to have another one in the year afterwards.

Ludovic Helfgott, vice president for Astrazeneca’s cardiovascular division, hailed the results as “stunning”, saying they gave hope heart disease could be “better treated long term”.

Shares in Astrazeneca closed up

1.4pc at £44.95.