By Ian Walker
AstraZeneca shares are up and leading the FTSE 100 index risers after the company said that its lung-cancer treatment Tagrisso, together with chemotherapy, has been approved in the U.S.
Shares at 1103 GMT were up 304.0 pence, or 3%, at 10,398 pence. However, they are down 9.4% over the past 12 months.
The pharmaceutical giant said Monday that the approval was based on trial results which showed that Tagrisso plus chemotherapy extended median progression-free survival by nearly nine months when compared with standard of care.
The approval is for adults with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small cell lung cancer.
The trial involved 557 patients in over 150 centers across more than 20 countries, including in the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia.
“This important new treatment option can delay disease progression by nearly nine additional months, establishing a new benchmark with the longest reported progression-free survival benefit in the 1st-line advanced setting,” Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president, oncology business unit, said.
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