AstraZeneca announced positive overall survival results from a Phase III trial with Imfinzi in treating small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
AstraZeneca will submit these results for presentation at a forthcoming medical meeting.
AstraZeneca has administrative and logistics operations in Delaware that at last report employ about 1,500. It razed its research facilities in north Wilmington a few years ago.
José Baselga, executive vice president, oncology R&D said: “The Phase III CASPIAN results offer new hope for patients who are facing the devastating diagnosis of small cell lung cancer, and for whom new medicines are urgently needed. This is the first trial offering the flexibility of combining immunotherapy with different platinum-based regimens in small cell lung cancer, expanding treatment options.”
The CASPIAN study used Imfinzi plus platinum-based chemotherapy options or the combination of Imfinzi, tremelimumab and chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone as a first-line treatment for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
Imfinzi is also being tested following concurrent chemoradiation therapy in limited-stage SCLC in another Phase III trial.
Imfinzi is approved for unresectable, Stage III non-small cell lung cancer in more than 45 countries, including the US, EU and Japan, based on the Phase III PACIFIC trial.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women and accounts for about one-fifth of all cancer deaths. Lung cancer is broadly split into NSCLC and SCLC, with about 15% classified as SCLC.
About two-thirds of SCLC patients are diagnosed with the extensive-stage disease, in which cancer has spread widely through the lung or to other parts of the body. SCLC is an aggressive, fast-growing cancer that recurs and progresses rapidly despite initial response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Prognosis is particularly poor, as only 6 percent of all SCLC patients will be alive five years after diagnosis.3
Imfinzi (durvalumab) is a human monoclonal antibody that counters the tumor’s immune-evading tactics.
Imfinzi is also approved for previously-treated patients with advanced bladder cancer in the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Israel, India, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Macau and Hong Kong.
Imfinzi is also being tested as a monotherapy and in combination with tremelimumab, an anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody and potential new medicine, as a treatment for patients with NSCLC, small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, biliary tract cancer and other solid tumors.
