AstraZeneca denies suppressing key research

The drug maker AstraZeneca insisted yesterday it had complied with Japanese regulations after reports suggested that it might have suppressed key research regarding side effects from its controversial lung cancer drug, Iressa.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has asked the company to supply it with more information about the events leading to the eventual publication of that research last autumn even though the study was completed a year before.

A newspaper in Japan reported on Thursday that researchers had given anti-cancer drugs, including Iressa, to two groups of mice with interstitial pneumonia.

The study found the disease advanced more quickly in the mice given Iressa. But AstraZeneca insisted yesterday that it was in the clear and denied that it had suppressed publication of the data.

A spokesperson for the company said: "We have acted properly in terms of informing MHLW about this study. What has happened is that they [MHLW] have asked AstraZeneca to supply them with additional information to help them understand the sequence of events that led us to submit the final research report."The company argues that the researchers had initially only taken a summary of its findings, rather than its full study.

Separately, Ivax of America said yesterday that it had received US Food and Drug Administration approval to market a generic version of AstraZeneca's breast cancer drug, Nolvadex. AstraZeneca's shares shrugged off the concerns and rose 27p to 2,182p.