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European regulators review Astra’s new cancer drug

The medicine has been developed in partnership with US pharma giant Merck
April 4, 2018

Lynparza – the cancer drug at the heart of AstraZeneca (AZN) and Merck’s (MRK) partnership – has been accepted for review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The submission follows a successful Phase III clinical trial in which Lynparza reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 42 per cent compared with chemotherapy.

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Lynparza works by targeting a specific genetic mutation of cancer and its approval in Europe would make it the first of its kind to use this type of genetic profiling. It is already commercially available in the US and has the potential to be used in 14 different cancer indications. That’s why analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald think Lynparza has the potential to generate annual revenue of over $1bn (£0.71bn) by 2021.