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Pfizer's (PFE) Talazoparib Emerges Superior in EMBRACA Study

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Pfizer Inc. (PFE - Free Report) announced superiority of its breast cancer candidate – talazoparib – over chemotherapy in improving progression free survival (“PFS”) in a phase III study, EMBRACA.

Talazoparib is an investigation dual-mechanism poly ADP ribose polymerase (“PARP”) inhibitor. The company will present the data from the study at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Shares of Pfizer have gained 9.3% in the past six months, outperforming the industry’s rise of 4.4% in that period.

The EMBRACA study evaluated talazoparib as a single agent in patients with germline BRCA-positive breast cancer who have received prior chemotherapy treatment. The candidate achieved a significant reduction of 46% in the risk of disease progression as the median PFS was 8.6 months in the talazoparib arm versus 5.6 month in the chemotherapy arm.

Moreover, 62.6% of patients in talazoparib arm achieved complete or partial response against 27.2% of patients receiving chemotherapy.

PARP inhibition is a new targeted therapy, which inhibits repair of the DNA of the cell, thus destroying the cell. The label expansion application of AstraZeneca’s (AZN - Free Report) PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, is under review in the United States. Meanwhile, Clovis Oncology, Inc. has collaborated with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY - Free Report) to develop its PARP inhibitor in combination with the latter’s PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo, in breast cancer.

Apart from talazoparib, Pfizer is also developing its key drug, Ibrance for treating advanced or high-risk early breast cancer. Ibrance is currently approved for HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Pfizer carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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