AstraZeneca PLC's medicine Imfinzi was approved in China to treat certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

China's National Medical Products Administration approved Imfinzi, or durvalumab, to treat patients with stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors cannot be removed through surgery. These patients should have also received platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy following which their disease has not progressed.

Stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer is defined by how much the cancer has spread to nearby tissues.

The U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant said the approval was backed by data from a phase 3 trial, dubbed Pacific, which showed the drug extended patients' lives longer than placebo.

Imfinzi is already approved for treating patients with this particular type of lung cancer in over 54 countries, including the U.S., EU and Japan. The medicine is also approved in 11 countries, including the U.S., to treat patients with advanced bladder cancer.