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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)

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