Setback for Astrazeneca as lung drug fails in COPD trials

ONE of Astrazeneca’s newest respiratory drugs has suffered a setback after it failed to help people with a type of breathing disorder.

Fasenra, Astrazeneca’s first biological respiratory medication, flopped final stage trials with patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The drug is part of a new wave of respiratory biological treatments that work by tackling the underlying causes of illness, rather than just its symptoms.

Fasenra is already approved for use in people with severe asthma and is being sold in a number of different countries, after facing final clinical trials 18 months ago.

The hope was that the medication would also help people with moderate to severe COPD, adding a valuable revenue stream for the drug.

Astrazeneca has called Fasenra an “extremely important” medication in its pipeline, as it attempts to build a market-leading respiratory biologics franchise.

This setback is particularly painful given that it puts one of Astrazeneca’s competitors well ahead in the race to create biological drugs for COPD.

British rival Glaxosmithkline already has a biological asthma drug, called Nucala, on the market. Unlike Fasenra, Nucala has shown to be effective in patients with COPD and GSK submitted the drug for approval with US regulators late last year.

Biological medications such as Fasenra work by targeting eosinophils, which are white blood cells that cause inflammation in the lungs. Respiratory, alongside oncology, is a key area of focus for Astrazeneca.

Shares in Astrazeneca closed up 27p at £52.79.