AstraZeneca lung cancer treatment gets regulator nod in China

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Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said its lung cancer drug had been approved in China after a late-stage study showed the treatment had cut the risk of disease recurrence or death by 80%.

In the trial, Tagrisso demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in disease-free survival in the primary analysis population of patients with stage II and IIIA early-stage epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated, or EGFRm, non-small cell lung cancer.

The drug also showed a 'statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in disease-free survival in the overall trial population of patients with stage IB-IIIA disease, a key secondary endpoint,' the company 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,' the company said.