US FDA approves AstraZeneca cancer drug Lynparza for treatment of breast cancer

US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved British drugmaker AstraZeneca cancer drug Lynparza for the treatment of breast cancer

Breast cancer named as BRCA-mutated HER2-negative is a high-risk, early-stage genetically mutated form of cancer.

The cancer drug Lynparza which has been jointly developed with US based Merck is used for patients who have already been treated with chemotherapy either before or after surgery.

A regulatory payment of USD 175 million will be received by AstraZeneca from Merck following the US FDA approval.

The USFDA approval is based on findings that the drug showed clinically meaningful improvement in disease-free survival. The study also revealed that the drug also reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrences or mortality by 42% compared with placebo.

Lynparza comes under the class of drugs known as PARP inhibitors. It works by keeping the cancer cells damaged by chemotherapy from repairing themselves. It is a major drug for AstraZeneca as it also has approvals for prostate, pancreatic and ovarian cancers.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were 685, 000 deaths globally and 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020.