AstraZeneca says expanded use of lung cancer drug backed by EU agency

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LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - European regulators have recommended wider use of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) 's IRESSA treatment for lung cancer, the British pharmaceutical company said on Friday.

The company said a so-called label update to IRESSA meant a patient could receive treatment with IRESSA after a blood test, instead of having to provide a tumour sample.

The update will take effect immediately, AstraZeneca said. Usually, recommendations for marketing approval by the Agency Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) are endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months.

"If doctors are unable to assess the mutation status of a tumour, then patients' access to potentially life-changing medicines such as IRESSA becomes restricted," AstraZeneca Chief Medical Officer Briggs Morrison said in a statement.

"Today's decision by the CHMP to endorse a label update for IRESSA is a significant step forward."

The recommendation is AstraZeneca's second in as many days. On Thursday the European Medicines Agency recommended a combination drug for chronic lung disease from Spain's Almirall , one of a number of respiratory medicines being acquired by AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca signed a deal in July to buy Almirall's lung drugs to build up its respiratory medicine business. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Jason Neely and Susan Thomas)