AstraZeneca gets two pieces of good news on drug development front

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AstraZeneca photo.
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AstraZeneca  reported two positive developments in its drug development pipeline.

The British-Swedish company has been working to rebuild a research and development pipeline, which has seen a number of blockbuster drugs lose patent protection.

A Phase 3 study of the   Fasenra  (benralizumab) asthma drug confirmed previous results of earlier studies and showed long-term improvement among patients with severe asthma. 

The company also reported that the Food and Drug Administration approved Lumoxiti, a  medicine for hairy cell leukemia marks first new treatment option for patients in more than  20 years. The drug is approved for use in patients who have undergone previous treatments for the disease and do not have major renal (kidney) problems.

Dave Fredrickson, global head oncology business unit, said: “Today’s FDA approval of Lumoxiti represents a significant milestone for people living with hairy cell leukemia, a rare blood cancer that can result in serious and life-threatening conditions. For patients, this approval provides the first FDA-approved medicine for this condition in more than 20 years.”

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Dr. William Busse, professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and lead investigator on the asthma study said: “As a clinician, I am excited by the BORA trial results, which provide confidence to patients with severe eosinophilic asthma and physicians that the positive outcomes they are seeing with Fasenra can be maintained over the second year of treatment. In Fasenra, we have a biologic treatment that can improve outcomes for these patients long-term.”

While AstraZeneca has suffered numerous setbacks in its research and development efforts, its stock price has been near a five-year high as cost-cutting efforts and investor support for a  strategy that focuses on a few key disease areas (cancer, breathing disorders and heart disease).

AstraZeneca’s employment in Delaware has shrunk from more than 4,000 to 1,500 in the past decade as blockbuster drugs gained generic status and could no longer get premium prices. The company ended research into drugs that combat severe mental illness and razed its laboratories in northern Delaware.

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