China approves AstraZeneca’s lung cancer treatment

China has approved AstraZeneca’s drug Imfinzi to treat aggressive types of lung cancer in adults, to boost its efforts to tackle the disease.

According to a British pharmaceutical company, the drug’s combination with chemotherapy is for adult patients with advanced stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), approved by the National Health Product Administration in China.

“SCLC is an aggressive form of lung cancer that usually recurs and progresses despite a response to chemotherapy. Only about 3% of patients with a wide range of stages survive more than 5 years after diagnosis.”

Chinese approval came after the positive results of a late-stage trial showing that when used in combination with chemotherapy, it helps improve overall patient survival compared to chemotherapy alone.

According to AstraZeneca, the results of field trials are also in line with global results.

Pharmaceutical companies are also aiming to catch up with Swiss rival Roche. Roche’s Tecentric has been approved for large-scale SCLC in China and many other countries.

AstraZeneca’s lung cancer portfolio includes a variety of medicines, including Imfinzi, which was approved for large SCLC in the United States and the European Union last year.

Imfinzi, which allows the immune system to detect and attack specific cancer cells, has already been approved in many countries as a more 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.

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Kamila/Reuters