AstraZeneca PLC (ADR) (AZN) Planning Tagrisso Label Expansion To Shore Up Earnings

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) share price could receive a major boost on the company pursuing a label expansion for its blockbuster Tagrisso. The drug has already demonstrated a superior clinical profile all but making the case for its usage as a second line regimen for all EGFR-mutation positive NSCLC patients.

Tagrisso Label Expansion

The company has already reiterated plans to make regulatory filings in the United States and the European Union for the drug. The Tagrisso label expansion should go a long way in bolstering the drug maker revenues expected to go a long way in shoring up earnings as well as share price.

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In addition, AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) is exploring the possibility of evaluating Tagrisso as a treatment option for patients suffering from leptomeningeal disease. Data from this trial is expected in the first half of this year. Success on this front should go a long way in expanding the drug’s target market, which in return should lead to more revenues for the pharmaceutical giant.

Tagrisso is an important pillar to AstraZeneca big sales ambition this year at a time when it needs to pose strong competition to other lung cancer players. The FDA having already approved Tagrisso for patients suffering from metastatic epidermal growth factor means its label expansion can only go a long way in making it a force to reckon with on cell lung cancer treatment.

 Tagrisso Sales Estimates

Executives remain confident of Tagrisso reaching peak sales of $3 billion a year having generated more than $276 million last year. Analysts on the other had remain confident on the drug generating annual sales of $2.5 billion by 2022. Clovis Oncology shutting down the development of a drug that would have rivaled Tagrisso also means AstraZeneca will have full access to the market for itself.

The blockbuster is a welcome boost for the company given that it is laboring towards a $45 billion revenue goal for 2023. The drug is also being looked upon to offset losses in revenue from generic competition on statin drug Crestor. AstraZeneca is also aggressively cutting costs as it looks to preserve R&D investment after years of sluggish sales.

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) was down by 0.15% in Monday trading session closing the day at $27.32 a share.

Note: This article is written by Andy Parker and originally published at Market Exclusive.