Zactima blow for AstraZeneca

28th Oct 2009 07:52

Drugs giant AstraZeneca has yanked the US and European regulatory submissions for its lung cancer treatment Zactima.The applications were submitted in June but after further analysis of test results no overall survival advantage was discerned when chemotherapy treatment was augmented by a dose of Zactima.Regulatory agencies have tipped AstraZeneca the wink that the drug would probably not be approved for the primary end-point of progression-free survival.Astra said it will complete the current Phase III Zactima trial programme to produce more evidence of the drug in different clinical settings.The company had submitted the drug for regulatory approval in the treatment of advanced, non-small cell lung cancer in patients who had tried other cancer therapies, but it also had hopes it could be used in other cancer therapies.