AstraZeneca lifts FTSE with lung cancer research

Shares in AstraZeneca were boosted on Wednesday with the announcement that it will begin testing a new lung cancer drug.

The firm’s shares jumped by 62p to ?26.60 and helped the FTSE to a four year high after it said that it has begun recruiting patients for trials of AZD2171, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signalling inhibitor. The maker claims that VEGF is a major factor in the formation of tumour blood vessels.

The trial, which will be conducted by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, will look at survival rates in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who, whilst taking chemotherapy, will either be administered AZD2171 or a placebo.

Glen Goss, a co-chair of the study and head of medical oncology at the Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Centre, commented: “AZD2171 is an exciting, novel drug.

“Based on preclinical experiments, AZD2171 appears to be highly potent at inhibiting the action of VEGF and suppressing angiogenesis, the process by which tumours hijack existing healthy blood vessels and use them to supply blood and nutrients to the tumour.”

Patients will be taken from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Romania, New Zealand, the US and other countries.

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