AstraZeneca wins FDA approval for key new lung cancer pill

LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A new lung cancer pill from AstraZeneca, designed for patients whose disease has worsened after treatment with other therapies, was approved by U.S. regulators on Friday, in a boost for the British drugmaker.

Tagrisso, also known as AZD9291, is one of several cancer medicines AstraZeneca hopes will rebuild its sales following patent losses on older drugs. During its defence against a takeover attempt by Pfizer last year, the firm said it believed the drug could sell as much as $3 billion a year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it granted accelerated approval for treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Like a rival product in development at Clovis Oncology, Tagrisso targets a genetic mutation that helps tumours evade current lung cancer pills.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by William Hardy)