astrazeneca : reported that Imfinzi significantly reduces the risk of disease worsening or death in the Phase III PACIFIC trial for Stage III unresectable lung cancer

We look forward to working with regulatory authorities around the world to bring Imfinzi to lung cancer patients as soon as possible. The combination of Imfinzi and tremelimumab is being assessed in Phase III trials in urothelial bladder cancer, NSCLC, SCLC and HNSCC and in Phase I/II trials in gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and haematological malignancies. It is also being developed in combination with tremelimumab, a checkpoint inhibitor that targets CTLA-4, as part of the MYSTIC, NEPTUNE and POSEIDON Phase III trials. Imfinzi is also being tested in the 1st-line treatment of patients with NSCLC as monotherapy in the MYSTIC and PEARL Phase III trials. AstraZeneca recently received accelerated approval from the US FDA for Imfinzi in previously treated patients with advanced bladder cancer.

U.S. FDA approves Merck immunotherapy/chemo combo for lung cancer

The accelerated approval was based on data from a study of 123 previously untreated patients with metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Bristol-Myers is testing Opdivo with its other immunotherapy, Yervoy, as a first-line NSCLC treatment, but did not seek accelerated approval. Lung cancer is by far the largest oncology market and the approval significantly expands the number of patients available for Keytruda therapy. Merck scored a coup last year, when Keytruda extended patient survival in a first-line lung cancer trial, supplanting Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY.N) as the perceived leader in the field. Both drugs and one from Roche (ROG.S) were already approved for lung cancer once a prior treatment fails or stops working.

AstraZeneca shares surge after key drug shows promise in lung cancer trial

It sets AstraZeneca apart from rivals Merck and Roche, whose equivalent drugs are years behind in the race for similar treatments against lung cancer. Analysts at Berenberg said that trial results, which were earlier than expected, put AstraZeneca ahead of rivals Roche and Merck. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File PhotoLONDON A trial of AstraZeneca's key immunotherapy drug durvalumab showed it reduced disease progression in lung cancer patients, sending the company's facebook/" target="_blank">shares higher and giving it a lead over rivals as it seeks to transform its oncology business. The trial results are an unexpectedly early boost for the product, known commercially as Imfinzi, which the company hopes will become a blockbuster drug with sales in the billions of dollars. "The surprise early positive readout of the PACIFIC trial of... durvalumab (Imfinzi) in locally advanced lung cancer is a major inflection point for AstraZeneca's immuno-oncology," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.


collected by :Lucy William

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