Amgen-AstraZeneca lung cancer drug combo boosts survival in late-stage trial

Sept. 8 (Reuters) - Amgen's AMGN.O targeted immunotherapy, Imdelltra, combined with AstraZeneca's AZN.L cancer drug Imfinzi, significantly improved overall survival in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer in a late-stage trial, the companies said on Tuesday.

Here are some details:

• The trial tested the combination as a maintenance treatment against Imfinzi alone in patients whose disease had not progressed after standard induction therapy.
• In addition to overall survival, the drug combination also improved progression-free survival and response rate. No new safety concerns were identified.
• Amgen's Imdelltra received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's accelerated approval in 2024 and traditional approval in 2025 for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer.
• Last year, the drug brought in $513 million in sales for Amgen. Cancer therapies account for about 23% of Amgen's total sales.
• Imdelltra is part of Amgen's pipeline of bispecific antibodies designed to attach to a cancer cell and an immune cell, bringing them together so that the body's immune system can kill the cancer.
• Imfinzi, already approved for several cancers, is a human monoclonal antibody that blocks tumour mechanisms that help cancers evade and suppress the immune system, while enhancing the body's anticancer immune response.
• Investor confidence in AstraZeneca has been dented by a series of setbacks in recent months, including the surprise failure of nerve disease drug Wainua in a late-stage heart disease trial in July and, most recently, the discontinuation of its trial of lung cancer drug volrustomig in August.