Clinical trials results have been coming in thick and fast for AstraZeneca (AZN) in the past few months. In fact, since the start of the year the group has gained approval for five new drugs.
In its latest missives, the group announced it is set to go head-to-head with fellow pharma behemoth GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in the injectable respiratory drugs marketplace, as its severe asthma treatment, Benralizumab, achieved positive final clinical trial results. Astra will file the drug with US and EU regulators in the second half of the year and analysts expect that it could contribute annual sales of $450m by 2021.
But it hasn't all been good news. On Wednesday, Astra announced that cancer drug Lynparza had failed to significantly increase survival rates of patients with bowel cancer. This is the third drugs disappointment since the new year, with fellow cancer drug tremelimumab and stroke treatment Brillinta also failing to achieve statistical significance in final trials.
