Huge lung cancer need brings rapid Tagrisso approval in China

Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has received marketing authorization for Tagrisso (osimertinib) in China as a first-in-class treatment for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

This decision by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) marks the approval of an important new medicine in a country where lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and EGFR-mutation rates are among highest globally.

Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in China. Between 30% and 40% of Asian patients with NSCLC have the EGFR mutation at diagnosis, and nearly two thirds of these patients whose disease progresses after treatment with an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) develop the T790M mutation.