Astra Zeneca to co promote Zytiga in Japan for Prostate Cancer

AstraZeneca announced that it has entered into an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals K. K. in Japan to co-promote Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), an innovative oral therapy for the treatment of patients with Prostate Cancer. Currently the main treatment option available to patients in Japan is medical castration, however prostate cancer can still progress in many patients because androgens are produced in other tissues.

Abiraterone acetate, a CYP17-inhibitor, inhibits the key enzyme which modulates the production of androgens, hormones which stimulate prostate cancer cells to grow, from all sources in the body. This helps lower the level of androgens available to the prostate cancer cells, which is the goal of treatment in Prostate Cancer. Janssen Pharmaceuticals K.K. submitted a marketing approval application for abiraterone acetate to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in July 2013 for the treatment of Prostate Cancer.