AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo to Evaluate Datroway Combo Across Tumor Types with Summit Therapeutics

05:30 AM EDT, 10/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- AstraZeneca (AZN.L, AZN.ST) and Daiichi Sankyo are teaming up with Summit Therapeutics to evaluate a Datroway combination therapy in different tumor types under a deal announced just days after the UK drugmaker's investment in the US-based company. The clinical partnership begins with a phase 3 study combining Datroway and ivonescimab in first-line triple-negative breast cancer before expanding into additional lung and breast cancer settings, according to a Friday release. AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, and Summit Therapeutics will share trial costs while retaining full commercial and development rights to their respective therapies. Datroway, or datopotamab deruxtecan, is a specifically engineered TROP2-directed DXd antibody-drug conjugate discovered by Daiichi Sankyo and jointly developed and commercialized with AstraZeneca. The therapy is approved in over 30 countries and regions worldwide for certain breast cancer and lung cancer types. Meanwhile, ivonescimab is approved in China for select patients with non-small cell lung cancer, with a biologics license application currently under US Food and Drug Administration review for EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. Beyond lung cancer, late-stage trials are evaluating the medication in triple-negative breast, biliary tract, bladder, colorectal, pancreatic, and head and neck squamous cell cancers. "Central to our strategy to transform cancer outcomes is harnessing the power of immunotherapy and antibody-drug conjugate combinations to drive deeper, more durable responses. We believe the combination of Datroway and ivonescimab has the potential to make a meaningful difference in multiple tumour types including lung and breast cancers," said Susan Galbraith, executive vice president for oncology hematology research and development at AstraZeneca. The clinical collaboration agreement builds on AstraZeneca's $2 billion investment in Summit Therapeutics unveiled on Sept. 28. AstraZeneca said the capital injection is intended to advance ivonescimab in combination with antibody-drug conjugates in various tumor types. The investment includes a clinical collaboration initially covering the development of ivonescimab with sonesitatug vedotin for gastrointestinal cancers, while establishing a framework to explore combinations with AstraZeneca's broader oncology portfolio. AstraZeneca shares were marginally higher by midmorning Friday trade in London and slightly down in Stockholm.