AstraZeneca CEO says lung cancer drug trial data 'very encouraging'

FILE PHOTO: The company logo for pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on Friday the company is "very encouraged" by interim data from a key lung cancer drug trial, but he did not explain why the company had not declared results as "clinically meaningful".

The drugmaker's shares fell by as much as 8% earlier this month after the company released interim data from the late-stage clinical trial called TROPION-Lung01 testing an experimental precision drug called datopotamab deruxtecan.