13th Nov 2015 15:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC Friday said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Tagrisso, a once daily tablet, for the treatment of patients with certain forms of lung cancer.
The drug giant said the 80.0 milligram once daily tablet is the only approved drug in the US to treat patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.
The company said it only started clinical trials of the drug around two and a half years ago, making it "one of the fastest development programmes" after the FDA accelerated the approval process based on the drug's tumour response rate and duration of response, it said.
AstraZeneca said there are "limited treatment options" currently available to patients suffering from this form of lung cancer.
"This treatment has the potential to become the standard of care for patients living with EGFRm T790M non-small cell lung cancer. The accelerated approval of AZD9291 [or Tagrisso] highlights its clinical promise for a targeted group of patients and gives healthcare providers an important new option."
AstraZeneca shares were down 0.5% to 4,053.50 pence per share on Friday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Astrazeneca