AstraZeneca has had two of its cancer drugs approved for use in the European Union.
The FTSE 100 pharma giant said Imfinzi has been given the green light in the EU for the treatment of adult patients with biliary tract cancer in combination with chemotherapy.
Meanwhile Lynparza has been approved for the treatment of men with metastatic prostate cancer, in combination with another medication called abiraterone.
Green light: AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi and Lynparza have been approved by the European Union for the treatment of certain cancers in combination with other medications
It comes just days after Imfinzi fell short in a key clinical trial, failing to show it could improve the survivability of patients suffering from late-stage lung cancer.
But the drug was more successful in treating patients with advanced biliary tract cancer, making it the only immuno-therapy treatment available to them at the moment in Europe.
Astra said its latest trial shows Imfinzi along with chemotherapy reduced risk of death by 24 per cent versus chemotherapy alone.
Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president of AstraZeneca’s oncology business unit, said: ‘With this approval, Imfinzi plus chemotherapy becomes the only immunotherapy-based treatment option available to patients in the EU with advanced biliary tract cancer.
‘This approval underscores our commitment to transform survival outcomes while addressing the high unmet need for new and improved treatments for patients with hepatobiliary cancers.’
In its trial, Lynparza in combination with abiraterone reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 34 per cent versus abiraterone alone.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in Europe, with an estimated 473,000 patients diagnosed and 108,000 deaths in 2020, according to AstraZeneca.
‘Many patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer are only able to receive one line of active therapy, as the disease can progress quickly,’ Fredrickson said.
‘Today’s approval marks a significant advance toward addressing the unmet need of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in the EU.’
The approvals add to a stellar year for AstraZeneca, with the company notching up multiple regulatory successes for its drugs across the US and Japan as well as the EU.
The firm’s shares have risen by nearly a third in 2022 on the back of the progression. Today they were flat at £111.18.
