(VOVWORLD) - AstraZeneca’s lung cancer therapy, Tagrisso, cut the risk of death by more than half in patients with a certain form of lung cancer who were diagnosed early enough to have their tumour surgically removed, trial data showed.
Tagrisso is already the crown jewel in the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s portfolio, raking in 5.4 billion USD last year.
The drug has regulatory approvals across multiple geographies for certain patients with so-called non small cell lung cancer who have a mutation of the EGFR gene.
The latest data, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, establishes Tagrisso as the backbone treatment for EGFR-mutated lung cancer, said Susan Galbraith, executive VP of oncology R&D at AstraZeneca in a statement.
“This is a pretty dramatic and remarkable improvement,” said Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president of oncology at AstraZeneca in an interview with Reuters.
An estimated 88% of patients treated with Tagrisso were alive at five years compared to 78% on placebo, trial data also showed.