AstraZeneca shares plunge as the firm's lung cancer study fails

London

ASTRAZENECA'S combination of two injectable immunotherapy drugs failed to help patients as hoped in a closely watched advanced lung cancer trial, sending its shares plunging on Thursday.

The so-called Mystic study was the most anticipated clinical experiment in the pharmaceutical industry this year and the news saw the shares tumble more than 15 per cent in early trade, putting them on track for their worst day ever.

Initial results from Mystic found the combination of durvalumab and tremelimumab was no more effective at stopping disease progression than chemotherapy in patients expr…