AstraZeneca: Crestor filed, Viozan pulled

27 June 2001

AstraZeneca had mixed fortunes in its near-term product pipeline as theMarketletter went to press, with news that its superstatin Crestor (rosuvastatin) had been filed in the USA and Europe mitigating the disappointment that Viozan (AR-C68397AA) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heralded by the company as a pot ential blockbuster, has been pulled from development.

The demise of Viozan represents a rare instance of AstraZeneca losing a late-stage development candidate, and analysts played down the seriousness of the development, noting that the beta2/dopamine D2 receptor agonist had always been considered the most speculative of AstraZeneca's five potential megabrands. Never theless, the news is clearly a blow to the firm, given that COPD affects 600 million people worldwide and suffers from a lack of effective medications. Astra Zeneca said that Viozan had failed to show a significant benefit in COPD above that afforded by existing drugs.

One firm which could get a fillip on the Viozan news is Glaxo SmithKline, although it could be a mixed blessing. GSK's Ariflo (SB207499) is also in Phase III development for COPD, but a condition of GSK's merger was that it would have to divest the drug if no other agent for COPD reached the market. However, Boehringer Ingel heim's decision to license another COPD drug in late-stage trials, Spiriva (tiotropium), to Pfizer earlier this year may offset this concern (Marketletter April 23).

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