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AstraZeneca's asthma drug fails 'smoker's lung' study
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
AstraZeneca's Fasenra failed to control COPD flare-ups in a study, a setback in treating smoker's lung. The company will analyze the data for further insights.
(Reuters) - AstraZeneca 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 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 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.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
AstraZeneca's asthma drug Fasenra failed to control the rate of flare-ups in COPD patients in a late-stage study, not meeting the primary endpoint compared to placebo.
Fasenra is AstraZeneca's second-best selling drug in its respiratory and immunology portfolio, generating $920 million in sales in the first half of 2025.
Patients enrolled in the Fasenra trial were current or former smokers with a history of at least two flare-ups in the previous year, receiving existing treatments for their condition.
AstraZeneca's other treatments for COPD include the triple-combination inhaler Breztri Aerosphere and the experimental drug tozorakimab.
AstraZeneca 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.
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