EHA 2023 – Astrazeneca keeps up its complement defense

Astrazeneca has the dominant complement inhibitor franchise via the acquisition of Alexion and its intravenous therapies Soliris and Ultomiris. But that position could soon come under fire from Novartis’s oral contender iptacopan.

Astra has oral projects of its own, although these are either way behind or focused on relatively small niches in paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH), their first indication. But Anita Hill, vice-president of global medical affairs at the Alexion division, believes that there is a good reason not to write off Soliris and Ultomiris just yet.