AstraZeneca Asthma Drug Shows Positive Results
May 17 2016 - 8:40AM
Dow Jones News
LONDON—AstraZeneca PLC reported positive results from two
late-stage studies on a severe asthma treatment that it hopes will
grab market share in an increasingly competitive area.
The U.K.-based drugmaker said the drug, called benralizumab,
reduced the frequency of asthma attacks in people with a severe
form of the disease. It said it planned to submit the drug to U.S.
and EU regulators for approval later this year.
The drug is one of a new class of injected respiratory
treatments for patients who cannot control their asthma with
existing inhaled drugs and tablets. If approved, it will join a
crowded market: GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries Ltd. have already launched similar treatments.
Still, Astra hopes its drug will win favor with doctors.
Bing Yao, head of respiratory medicine at the company's
MedImmune unit, said benralizumab acted directly on the cells that
are thought to cause attacks in severe asthma patients. He said the
Glaxo and Teva drugs, by contrast, act indirectly by targeting a
protein that activates those cells.
Tom Keith-Roach, Astra's head of respiratory medicine, said that
benralizumab is easier to administer than competing products as it
is supplied in a pre-filled syringe that required no extra
preparation. Glaxo and Teva couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
Astra will provide more detailed results of the two trials later
this year, it said. Those trials, which involved around 2,500
people in total, compared benralizumab against placebos as an
add-on to other asthma drugs.
Benralizumab is one of the new drugs Astra hopes will help it
return to sustainable growth following a string of patent
expirations on old blockbusters that have eroded sales. Pascal
Soriot, its chief executive, has said the company's pipeline of new
drugs would push annual revenue to $45 billion by 2023, nearly
double the $25 billion reported in 2015.
Severe asthma, a potentially debilitating form of the disease
due to the high frequency of attacks, affects around 30 million
people, or 10% of all asthma patients. Analysts at UBS estimate
that, if approved, benralizumab could generate $1 billion in
revenue at its peak. Astra shares were up 0.9% at £ 39.50 in
afternoon trading.
Write to Denise Roland at Denise.Roland@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 17, 2016 08:25 ET (12:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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