AstraZeneca, Chi-Med take kidney cancer drug into final testing

AstraZeneca and Hutchison China MediTech said on Thursday they had initiated a global late-stage clinical trial of the experimental drug savolitinib in a relatively rare type of kidney cancer.

The launch triggers a $5 million payment from AstraZeneca to the Shanghai-based drugmaker, which is listed in London and is known as Chi-Med. The move underscores Chi-Med's drive to bring modern Chinese drugs to the international market.

The Phase III study will test savolitinib in c-MET-driven papillary renal cell carcinoma.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by David Evans)