Max Nisen, Columnist

AstraZeneca Wins in Cancer by Going Its Own Way

A focus on niche patient groups pays off, setting an example for the future.

September 11, 2017 at 2:42 PM UTC

Max Nisen is a healthcare analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. He previously wrote for Bloomberg Opinion, Quartz and Business Insider.

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In the multi-billion-dollar market for a new group of medicines that unleash the human immune system on cancers, AstraZeneca PLC has been an afterthought.

Lagging in the race to gain market share in immuno-oncology (IO) drugs, Astra made a big bet on a combination of two IO medicines to treat lung cancer. The combo has been a flop so far. But Astra pulled an ace out of its sleeve on Saturday, presenting successful trial data at a European cancer conference for its lead IO drug Imfinzi in a segment of the lung market rivals haven't really touched.