Sept 17 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca ( AZN ) said on

Wednesday its asthma drug Fasenra failed to control the rate of

flare-ups in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

(COPD) in a late-stage study, in a setback to efforts to help

tackle a severe lung disease.

The drugmaker said Fasenra did not meet the primary endpoint

in COPD patients compared with placebo, and added that it would

analyze the full study data to better understand the results.

Fasenra is AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) second-best selling drug from its

respiratory and immunology portfolio. It brought in $920 million

in sales in the first half of 2025, up 18% from a year earlier.

"COPD, which remains a leading cause of death worldwide,

is a complex, heterogeneous disease and we continue to advance

other promising approaches in our pipeline to address the unmet

needs of patients," said AstraZeneca ( AZN ) executive Sharon Barr.

The company's other treatments for COPD, also known as

"smoker's lung", include its triple-combination inhaler Breztri

Aerosphere, and the experimental tozorakimab.

Patients enrolled in the Fasenra trial were current or

former smokers, receiving existing treatments for their

condition, and had a history of at least two flare-ups in the

previous year.

Separately, the drugmaker announced that its rare disease

drug Saphnelo successfully met the primary endpoint in a

late-stage trial by significantly reducing activity in systemic

lupus erythematosus, a chronic autoimmune condition.