AstraZeneca arthritis drug performs badly under tests The mid-size study of fostamatinib, which is given as a pill rather than injected, showed it was not as good as the market-leading drug by Abbott in controlling arthritis symptoms, knocking hopes for one of the few late-stage products in the company's pipeline. AstraZeneca is chasing rival Pfizer in the race to develop a convenient oral alternative to injections, like the $9bn (£5.6bn) -a-year seller Humira, which have led the field for the past decade. Panmure Gordon analyst Savvas Neophytou said although it proved better than a placebo at some doses, the failure to match Humira's efficacy is "likely to limit the product's commercial potential." Some analysts said the poor test performance meant the company had missed the opportunity to upgrade sales forecasts, although analysts did not change current revenue predictions for AstraZeneca. With this year's loss of exclusivity on schizophrenia drug Seroquel, and Nexium for stomach acid set for US patent expiries in 2014, AstraZeneca's new chief executive Pascal Soriot faces one of the industry's steepest patent "cliffs."