FDA OKs Cancer Drug From AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca, Europe’s second-biggest drug maker, won U.S. approval to sell the first of a new class of cancer pills that spare patients from many of the side effects of chemotherapy.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the medicine, called Iressa, for lung cancer patients whose disease has progressed after treatment with other drugs. ImClone Systems Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. are developing similar drugs, designed to target tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.

Annual Iressa sales may climb as high as $1.1 billion by 2007, said Catherine Arnold, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Iressa will cost about $1,900 at the pharmacy for a monthly supply, or about $63 a tablet.

AstraZeneca’s U.S.-traded shares rose $1.54, or 3.7%, to $43.05 on the NYSE.