Japan grants quick approval for AZ cancer drugs

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has granted swift regulatory approval for new uses of two of AstraZeneca’s cancer drugs in Japan. This move highlights the country’s new desire to access modern medicines as quickly as possible, contrary to its historically slow approval of modern drugs. Global approval for AZ’s Imfinzi immunotherapy drug, for use in lung cancer patients with stage III lung cancer (inoperable disease that had advanced locally but not spread widely around the body), was only granted about 5 months ago in the US, and is yet to receive approval in the EU.

The second product approved just as speedily by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is Lynparza, a breast cancer drug which AstraZeneca markets with Merck & Co.