AstraZeneca got a bit of a windfall today from the FDA, which granted six extra months of exclusive marketing rights to its Arimidex [1] cancer drug. The drug's patent was set to expire in December 2009.
Currently, Arimidex is approved as a first-line and add-on breast-cancer treatment. The drug brought in $507 million during the first nine months of this year. AZ had been studying Arimidex for use in children whose estrogen production is abnormally high, but the trial results weren't favorable enough for the company to seek a new indication.
- see the release [2] from AstraZeneca
Related Articles:
Arimidex wins new indication. Report [1]
Analyst: AZ "worst performer" in pharma
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/spotlight-arimidex-wins-new-indication/2005-06-28
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/press-release-astrazeneca-receives-six-months-paediatric-exclusivity-patent-extension