China approves AstraZeneca lung cancer drug

July 19 (Reuters) – China has approved AstraZeneca (AZN.L) drug Imfinzi to treat an aggressive type of lung cancer in adults, the group said on Monday, in a bid to boost efforts to fight it disease.

Use of the drug along with chemotherapy for adult patients with large-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been approved by the National Medicines Administration of China, the Anglo-Swedish manufacturer said. .

SCLC is an aggressive form of lung cancer that usually comes back and progresses despite a response to chemotherapy. Only about 3% of people with extended-stage disease live beyond five years after diagnosis.

China’s approval came after positive results from an advanced-stage trial, which showed that the drug, when used with chemotherapy, helped improve patients’ overall survival compared to chemotherapy alone. The results of a local trial were also aligned with the global results, AstraZeneca said.

The drugmaker is also looking to catch up with Swiss rival Roche (ROG.S), whose Tecentriq is approved in China and many other countries for extended-stage SCLC.

AstraZeneca’s lung cancer portfolio includes a range of drugs, including Imfinzi, which was approved in the United States and the European Union last year for advanced stage SCLC.

Imfinzi, which enables the immune system to detect and attack certain cancer cells, is already approved in many countries as the most common treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer accounts for about one-fifth of all cancer deaths and is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

Report by Sachin Ravikumar in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Arun Koyyur

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