BUZZ-AstraZeneca: cancer immunotherapy gets positive NEJM review

** AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) 's immunotherapy drug Imfinzi enjoys enthusiastic editorial review in influential New England Journal of Medicine, following positive data reported in September from the Pacific stage III lung cancer trial

** Two top lung cancer doctors, Naiyer Rizvi and Solange Peters, highlight clear benefits of the medicine, including lower levels of brain metastases, and raise the possibility of Imfinzi being used more widely

** While Pacific only studied patients with tumours that could not be surgically removed, Rizvi and Peters suggest in Nov. 16 article it might also have a role in resectable (or operable) patients

** Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson notes U.S. oncologists have flexibility in choosing how to use cancer drugs, so this could spur off-label demand, adding: "In developed markets, Pacific alone could generate up to ~$2 billion in annual revenues for Imfinzi"

** Imfinzi is currently only approved for advanced bladder cancer, a small market, but lung cancer is expected to be added to its label soon