08:06 AM EST, 12/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- AstraZeneca ( AZN ) said Thursday that its cancer drug Imfinzi has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat adults with limited-stage small cell lung cancer whose illness has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The approval was based on results from a phase 3 trial in which the drug, also called durvalumab, reduced the risk of death by 27% versus placebo, with an average overall survival of 55.9 months compared with 33.4 months for placebo, the company said.

AstraZeneca ( AZN ) added that an estimated 57% of patients treated with Imfinzi were alive at three years compared to 48% for placebo.

The drug also reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 24% compared with placebo, the company said.