AstraZeneca's drug extending survival rate in lung cancer patients

Using Imfinzi in stage III lung cancer, where cancer has only spread locally, opens up a multibillion-dollar sales opportunity

AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy drug Imfinzi has hit a second important goal by improving overall survival in lung cancer patients, boosting prospects for a medicine that has already got off to a promising commercial launch. 
 

Its success in extending lives, announced by the company on Friday, follows data announced last year showing patients on Imfinzi lived on average 16.8 months without their disease worsening, against just 5.6 months for those on placebo. 
 

That so-called progression-free survival (PFS) benefit led to US regulatory approval in February, allowing Imfinzi to be used in non-small cell lung cancer patients with inoperable mid-stage disease that has