AstraZeneca's Tozorakimab Cuts COPD Flare-Ups in Late-Stage Trials

According to CNBC, AstraZeneca released full results from two successful late-stage trials of its experimental COPD drug tozorakimab, which reduced moderate and severe flare-ups in former smokers by 29% and 34% and in a broader group of current and former smokers by 30% and 29% versus placebo. The biologic is under priority review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with U.S. approval expected in the first quarter of 2027, and AstraZeneca has raised its peak annual sales forecast for the drug to more than $5 billion. Ruud Dobber, president of AstraZeneca's biopharmaceuticals business unit, said the company believes a large population of COPD patients could benefit from the medicine. CEO Pascal Soriot said the drug could exceed $5 billion in annual sales because of the large unmet need and the limited use of biologics in the disease. The company said tozorakimab is also under regulatory review in major markets including the EU and China and is being studied in Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials in severe asthma and severe viral lower respiratory tract disease.