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News›Industry›Healthcare/Biotech›Pharmaceuticals›AstraZeneca 'magic' faces rare test after
trial failure, share slide The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now. Read Today's Paper AstraZeneca
'magic' faces rare test after trial failure, share slideSECTIONSAstraZeneca 'magic' faces rare test after trial failure,
share slideReutersLast Updated: Jul 24, 2026, 11:56:00 AM ISTRate StoryFollow usShareFont
SizeAbcSmallAbcMediumAbcLargeSavePrintCommentSynopsisAstraZeneca's nerve drug Wainua unexpectedly failed a late-stage
heart disease trial. This setback has caused investor concern and impacted the company's share price. Investors now
await results from two key oncology trials, SERENA-4 and AVANZAR. Success in these trials is crucial for maintaining
confidence in AstraZeneca's research engine. The company aims for significant revenue growth by 2030 through new drug
launches.ReutersAstraZeneca’s Wainua drug failed a late-stage heart disease trial, raising investor concerns and
pressuring shares. Attention now shifts to key oncology trial results that could support the company’s future growth
plans.London: AstraZeneca's long-time CEO Pascal Soriot has rarely put a foot wrong. The company's shares have more that
quadrupled in price during his 14-year tenure, soaring above the wider FTSE 100 index and main British rival
GSK.AstraZeneca's huge diversity and number of drugs on the market and success in clinical trials in different
therapeutic areas set it apart from peers, giving Soriot the golden touch in the eyes of investors.Now, though,
investors have some cause for concern after news this month of the unexpected failure of nerve drug Wainua in a
late-stage heart disease trial, which hammered the shares and turned attention on the firm's drug R&D pipeline.Read
more: AstraZeneca to license lung cancer drug from China's Dizal PharmaceuticalAstraZeneca's shares are down 10% this
year and trail GSK and the wider London stock index over two years, with attention now on two other late-stage trials
that could shape confidence in AstraZeneca's research engine and long-term growth outlook.Live EventsWhen it releases
second-quarter earnings on Monday, analysts and investors say they will be focusing less on the numbers and more on what
executives say about the outlook for breast cancer study SERENA-4 and lung cancer trial AVANZAR - seen now as key.Three
sequential trial failures this year would start to raise questions about whether AstraZeneca's R&D success story is
starting to falter, analysts say.HSBC analyst Rajesh Kumar has already downgraded his rating from buy to hold
after AstraZeneca reported the Wainua trial failure on July 9."Fundamentally, do I like AstraZeneca's R&D
strategy, engine, company? Yes I do," Kumar said. "Do I feel confident that investing in the stock right now is a
good idea? No, I don't."Read more: AstraZeneca plans to invest $405 million in Britain, PM Keir Starmer saysIS SHARE
PRICE FALL A MARKET OVERREACTION?Concerns mounted after the failure of Wainua, an approved treatment for rare
neurological disorder ATTR-CM, in a Phase III trial that was testing the medicine in a form of heart disease. The
setback erased some $20 billion of the firm's market value.SERENA-4 and AVANZAR are among AstraZeneca's most closely
watched late-stage oncology trials due to report this year. Successful results would boost confidence in the firm's
ability to replace blockbuster medicines losing patent protection in the next decade, analysts said. Failures could
sharpen scrutiny."If both fail, Astra will have missed three out of three important readouts this year," said Union
Investment portfolio manager Markus Manns, adding investors would start questioning the clinical trial design, pipeline
selection and long-term sales ambitions, while pressure for acquisitions could increase.Kumar said the outcome of the
AVANZAR trial was particularly important because it would validate the firm's proprietary biomarker for selecting
patients, with implications for several future oncology trials.CEO SORIOT STILL HAS HIS 'MIDAS TOUCH'Not everyone,
however, believes that the Wainua setback is a sign of wider problems.Jefferies analyst Michael Leuchten said the
firm had some 200 assets in the late stage pipeline that could be future growth drivers, such as respiratory drug
tozorakimab, and the falling share price was a "significant overreaction".TD Cowen analyst Michael Nedelcovych also
cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from the single trial failure.AstraZeneca set a target in 2024 to raise
annual revenue to $80 billion by 2030, saying it expected to achieve this through the launch of around 20 new
medicines and continued growth across its cancer, biopharma and rare disease portfolios. The company reported annual
revenue of about $59 billion last year.A Citeline report in January showed AstraZeneca leading in new drug development
programmes and with the most Phase III or late-stage trial assets among the 10 top drugmakers globally.Leuchten added
the trial failure looked like a one-off and that Soriot, 67, still had his "Midas touch"."Sometimes you just don't get
the answer you were looking for. That's part of the R&D game," he said. "I think they can stomach that kick in the shin,
even if it hurts."Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times
WhatsApp channel)Read More News onastrazenecaAstraZeneca stock performanceclinical trial failuresWainua trial
failurePascal Soriot leadershiponcology trialsinvestor concerns AstraZenecaAVANZAR trialbiopharmaceutical pipeline(Catch
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