AstraZeneca Pharma gets DCGI nod for lung cancer treatment drug

AstraZeneca Pharma India on Wednesday said it has received marketing approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for its product for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

"The regulatory approval of Tagrisso (Osimertinib) in India will provide better medicine for the management of non-small cell lung cancer and help patients attain a better quality of life," Astrazeneca India Managing Director Gagandeep Singh Bedi said in a statement.

Osimertinib, an oral pill, when given to patients of lung cancer whose tumour have specific mutation called EGFR mutation and who have undergone surgical removal of the lung tumour, has shown to decrease the risk of cancer recurrence by nearly 83 per cent.

According to the Global Cancer Survey (GLOBOCAN), in 2018, the total number of new lung cancer cases were 67,795 and 63,475 deaths were reported.