US FDA approves AstraZeneca's lung cancer drugs

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Drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said on Friday that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Imfinzi and Imjudo, its lung cancer drugs, when used along with chemotherapy for treatment of adults with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

According to AstraZeneca, "Patients treated with a limited course of five cycles of the anti-CTLA-4 antibody Imjudo added to Imfinzi plus four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy experienced a 23% reduction in the risk of death versus a range of chemotherapy options."

"An estimated 33% of patients were alive at two years versus 22% for chemotherapy. This treatment combination also reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 28% compared to chemotherapy alone," AstraZeneca published on its website.

"Updated results from the POSEIDON Phase III trial after approximately four years of follow-up presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022 and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology demonstrated sustained survival benefit, improving overall survival (OS) by 25% compared to chemotherapy alone."

AstraZeneca explained that "an estimated 25% of patients treated with the combination" lived at three years in comparison with only "13.6% for those treated with chemotherapy alone."

"The safety profile for Imjudo plus Imfinzi and chemotherapy was consistent with the known profiles of each medicine, and no new safety signals were identified," AstraZeneca added.

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