AstraZeneca's Tagrisso receives Chinese approval
AstraZeneca
10,914.00p
17:00 18/04/24
Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that Tagrisso had been approved in China for the adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated lung cancer.
FTSE 100
7,877.05
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 350
4,334.00
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,290.02
16:54 18/04/24
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
21,132.77
17:14 18/04/24
AstraZeneca highlighted that Tagrisso was the only targeted medicine to show efficacy in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer in a global trial and was also the first such medicine approved in China.
The approval from China's National Medical Products Administration was based on "unprecedented results" from the drug's ADAURA Phase III trial, where it was shown to reduce the risk of disease recurrence or death by 80%.
Vice President of AstraZeneca's oncology unit Dave Fredrickson said: "The expedited approval of Tagrisso in China as part of a curative-intent regimen for early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer underscores the high unmet need in this setting and our commitment to improving outcomes in a country with one of the highest rates of EGFR mutations in the world.
"This approval reinforces the importance of EGFR testing across all stages of lung cancer, prior to treatment decisions, to ensure as many patients as possible can benefit from targeted therapies like Tagrisso and live cancer-free longer."
As of 0830 BST, AstraZeneca shares were up 1.28% at 7,259.0p.