AstraZeneca Plc announced that its drug Tagrisso significantly extends the lives of certain lung cancer patients when administered alongside chemotherapy, Business Standard reports. This marks the latest development in the fierce competition with Johnson & Johnson for the most effective treatment for the disease.

The combination helped patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer live an average of 47.5 months—the longest demonstrated survival benefit to date in late-stage disease, said Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President of Astra’s oncology business. Additionally, the drug shows a manageable safety profile.

The study, presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona, found that adding chemotherapy increased survival by nearly 10 months compared to Tagrisso alone. The combination had already been approved based on previous data, but until now, it had not been proven to extend life.

“In the context of a competitive environment, this was an extremely important question,” Fredrickson said in an interview. “Now the question has received a definitive answer.”

Tagrisso is already widely used for tumors associated with EGFR genetic mutations but faces new competitors. Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson presented data showing that patients on their combination therapy live significantly longer than those taking Tagrisso alone, with the difference expected to exceed one year of life once the study is complete.

Fredrickson, however, described these results as “only projections” and noted that Astra’s data indicate that Tagrisso plus chemotherapy could become a standard of care, especially for patients with more aggressive disease or younger, healthier patients.

Johnson & Johnson relies on its regimen, which combines the intravenous drug Rybrevant with the pill Lazcluze, to generate over $5 billion in annual revenue. The combination, approved last year, does not require chemotherapy but is associated with more severe side effects than Tagrisso alone, including higher rates of blood clots, rashes, nail infections, and injection site reactions.

Tagrisso remains Astra’s top-selling oncology drug, with $6.6 billion in revenue in 2024. Although it was approved roughly a decade ago, revenue is expected to continue growing as the company investigates its benefits in combination with other cancer therapies. | BGNES