Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday its combination drug helped increase the duration of no progress in a type of non small-cell lung cancer in patients.

The therapy met the main goals of the study that tested a combination of antibody treatment Rybrevant and experimental drug lazertinib against chemotherapy in patients with a more common mutation in EGFR protein that causes rapid cell growth.

J&J's therapy was tested in patients in whom the disease progressed even after they were treated with AstraZeneca's Tagrisso.

Rybrevant received approval in 2021 for only 2-3% of non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients - a small subset that had a specific type of mutation in EGFR protein.

J&J is also testing its combination treatment in a head-to-head study with Tagrisso, and expects data from the trial by the end of this year. If successful, the company expects the therapy to become a first-line treatment for NSCLC patients with the mutation.

Tagrisso generated over $5.4 billion in 2022.