AstraZeneca’s Arimidex has new indication introduced today

AstraZeneca, the UK’s second largest pharmaceutical company, has announced that Arimidex (anastrozole), the breast cancer drug, will become the “first and only” aromatase inhibitor to be approved both for primary adjuvant use and after having been prescribed tamoxifen for two or three years.

Until now, Arimidex had only been approved for use after breast cancer surgery as a primary adjuvant treatment. The new indication means that patients who have used tamoxifen for two to three years can switch to using Arimidex, which can “significantly improve” the likelihood of living cancer-free, according to AstraZeneca.

Arimidex, the world’s most widely-used aromatase inhibitor, can now be prescribed for this latest indication in the UK, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain as part of the EU Mutual Recognition markets.

Professor Walter Jonat of the University of Kiel, Germany, remarked: “Physicians are increasingly using anastrozole at diagnosis because of its superior efficacy and tolerability compared with the old gold standard tamoxifen.”

“The question remained whether those patients who did not receive anastrozole from the start of their treatment would still be able to benefit. This new indication means we can now also offer them a greater likelihood of living longer, cancer free, by changing therapy to anastrozole,” he added.

Professor Jonat concluded by saying that switching to Arimidex could reduce some of the long-term side effects associated with tamoxifen.

Tamoxifen was discovered by ICI Pharmaceuticals, which became AstraZeneca some years later. The company marketed tamoxifen as Nolvadex, although it has withdrawn this brand in the US because of strong generic tamoxifen competition.

Arimidex was launched in 1995 as a treatment for advanced breast cancer and was approved in 2002 for use in early stages of the disease.

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