New Amgen drug combination shows survival gains in lung cancer trial

According to data from a study unveiled at a leading medical symposium on Saturday, Amgen’s Imdelltra used in combination with AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy Imfinzi decreased mortality risk by 58% compared to the Astra drug alone in patients with extensive-stage small lung cancer.

Imfinzi is currently the standard of care following chemotherapy for patients with this very aggressive disease whose cancer has neither grown nor shrunk significantly; it remains stable.

Imdelltra’s US list price is about $300,000 per cycle or above $390,000. The LSEG data showed that Wall Street analysts have projected annual revenues surpassing $2.5 billion by 2030.

Amgen’s Imdelltra is currently approved for adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer that has progressed despite chemotherapy based on data that it decreased the death rate by 40%.

While most lung cancers are non-small cells with up to 15% are the small cell diversity targeted by Imdelltra. The US National Institutes of Health stated that about 250,000 new cases are diagnosed yearly worldwide.

Amgen further clarified that nearly 80% of trial patients remained alive at one year, compared to 53% on Imfinzi alone. Furthermore, adverse event-related discontinuation of the combination therapy occurred in 5.7% of combination-group patients compared to 5.8% of single-agent Imfinzi patients.