AstraZeneca
cancer drug hits second goal by extending survival
Send a link to a friend
[May 25, 2018] LONDON
(Reuters) - AstraZeneca's immunotherapy drug Imfinzi has hit a second
important goal by improving overall survival in lung cancer patients,
boosting prospects for a medicine that has already got off to a
promising commercial launch.
|
Its success in extending lives, announced by the company on Friday,
follows data announced last year showing patients on Imfinzi lived
on average 16.8 months without their disease worsening, against just
5.6 months for those on placebo.
That so-called progression-free survival (PFS) benefit led to U.S.
regulatory approval in February, allowing Imfinzi to be used in
non-small cell lung cancer patients with inoperable mid-stage
disease that has not spread widely around the body.
Imfinzi is the first immunotherapy to be approved in this setting,
giving AstraZeneca a chance to intervene relatively early in lung
cancer.
That distinguishes it from rivals Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and
Roche that beat the British drugmaker in winning approval for
similar immunotherapies in advanced or metastatic disease.
Analysts believe using Imfinzi in stage III lung cancer, where
cancer has only spread locally, opens up a multibillion-dollar sales
opportunity and the latest overall survival (OS) data should
underline the drug's potential.
[to top of second column] |
"Consensus has peak Imfinzi sales at $2.8 billion by 2023 and the
achievement of an OS benefit may not result in much of a change in
sales expectations," Berenberg analysts said in a note.
"Nevertheless ... the OS data will help Astra in its physician
education and ensure the peak sales can be achieved."
AstraZeneca said it planned to publish full details of the
statistically significant OS result at an upcoming medical
conference.
Imfinzi, chemically known as durvalumab, belongs to a new class of
immuno-oncology drugs that block a mechanism tumors use to evade
detection from the immune system.
Lung cancer is the biggest opportunity for all companies seeking to
exploit the power of such medicines, since it is the leading cause
of cancer deaths.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Keith Weir)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |