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AstraZeneca regains momentum

The pharma giant has reported better-than-expected results from two of its late-stage clinical trials
September 13, 2017

Europe’s biggest gathering of cancer doctors provided the stage for AstraZeneca (AZN) to win its way back into the hearts of its investors. At the 2017 conference of the European Society of Medical Oncology, the British pharma giant announced that two of its lung cancer drug trials had been successful in extending the time patients could go without their illness progressing, sparking a 9 per cent one-week share price rally.

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Analysts now have high hopes for the sales potential of these drugs. Peak revenue forecasts for Tagrisso, which is expected to become the ‘gold standard’ of care for late-stage lung cancer patients, are for $5.9bn (£4.45m) of annual revenue by 2020. Imfinzi, which will be used for cancer patients in the early stage of treatment, has a $2bn sales target.