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Successful lung cancer drug trial boosts AstraZeneca

Published: 08:40 18 Jul 2016 BST

Lung cancer
Tagrisso is one of the fastest development programmes ever

AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) reported success in advanced trials of lung cancer drug Tagrisso.

The drug giant said a phase III AURA3 trial had met its primary endpoint, demonstrating superior progression-free survival (PFS) of lung cancer sufferers compared to standard platinum-based doublet chemotherapy.

The AURA3 randomised trial assessed the efficacy and safety of Tagrisso as a 2nd-line treatment in more than 400 patients with EGFR T790M mutation-positive, locally-advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whose disease had progressed following 1st-line EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy.

A full evaluation of AURA3 data, including an analysis of overall survival (OS), is ongoing and results will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting.

AstraZeneca's executive vice-president of global medicine development and chief medical officer, Sean Bohen, said: "These results confirm Tagrisso as a meaningful alternative to benefit EGFR T790M lung cancer patients.

"We remain committed to exploring the potential of Tagrisso to further extend its reach and help meet patient need."

Tagrisso is one of the fastest development programmes ever, from start of clinical trials to approval in just over two and a half years.

It was approved in the US, EU, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Israel and Mexico as the first treatment for patients with EGFR T790M mutation-positive advanced NSCLC. Tagrisso is also approved in South Korea in the same indication.

Shares in AstraZeneca rose 15.5p, or 0.34%, to 4,517.5p in early London trading.

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