Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plc (STO:AZN) (LON:AZN) (Nasdaq:AZN) announced on Monday that its Tagrisso (osimertinib), when combined with chemotherapy, has demonstrated a significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), compared to Tagrisso alone, in patients with locally advanced (Stage IIIB-IIIC) or metastatic (Stage IV) epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

These findings were presented during a Presidential Symposium at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

The combination therapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 38% in comparison to Tagrisso monotherapy. By investigator assessment, the combination extended median PFS by 8.8 months versus Tagrisso alone. Blinded independent central review (BICR) results further supported this outcome, with Tagrisso plus chemotherapy extending median PFS by 9.5 months. Significantly, this PFS benefit was observed across all pre-specified subgroups, including sex, race, EGFR mutation type, age at diagnosis, smoking history and baseline central nervous system (CNS) metastasis status.

While overall survival (OS) data were not fully mature at the time of analysis, a favourable trend was noted for Tagrisso plus chemotherapy.