AstraZeneca Eyes Early Access Schemes To Get Lung Cancer Drugs To Patients Faster

AstraZeneca has stated that British lung cancer patients could potentially benefit from the company’s drugs even before testing on them is fully completed. Pascal Soriot, chief executive at AstraZeneca, told The Telegraph earlier this week that he wants to make the two lung cancer drugs being developed by the company — AZD9291 and MEDI4736—available for early use through Britain’s newly launched early access to medicines scheme, as well as through other schemes.

The scheme will allow patients to get drugs quickly, possibly years earlier than the current regulatory system allows. The US and Japan also have similar “fast track” programs that allow new drugs to reach patients before a final approval by regulators. In the UK, the early access to medicines scheme has only been in operation for a few months, and no drugs have been granted approval for the fast track yet. Soriot noted that he wasn’t only looking at the UK — his company wanted to evaluate each situation on a “country-by-country” basis in order to determine how to “give patients early access to 9291 and 4736 around the world.”

AstraZeneca has been in the spotlight recently because of takeover efforts from Pfizer, rumored to be eyeing AstraZeneca  for the company’s strong drug development pipeline, of which AZD9291 and MEDI4736 are both part.

The lung cancer drugs in development by the company have already garnered praise around the world, with AZD9291 receiving “breakthrough status” from the FDA recently, which means the drug will be able to gain a fast track through the U.S. regulatory approval system.

At the American Society of Clinical Oncologists meeting this past weekend, researchers from the company presented study results that showed that AZD9291 reduced the size of lung cancer tumors in 65 percent of patients. Soriot also added that the company has been able to move quickly through the development phase of the lung cancer drugs independently, which could make a case for AstraZeneca remaining independent. According to The Telegraph, while he “never said a merger is bad”, he believes that AstraZeneca “doesn’t need a merger.”