Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca's Tagrisso slashes death risk in certain post-surgery lung cancer patients; Drugmaker Mallinckrodt may file for bankruptcy again -WSJ and more

Tagrisso is already the crown jewel in the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's portfolio, raking in $5.4 billion last year. Drugmaker Mallinckrodt may file for bankruptcy again -WSJ Pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt Plc is considering options including filing for bankruptcy again as a $200 million opioid settlement payment is due within weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

AstraZeneca's Tagrisso slashes death risk in certain post-surgery lung cancer patients

AstraZeneca's lung cancer therapy, Tagrisso, cut the risk of death by more than half in patients with a certain form of lung cancer who were diagnosed early enough to have their tumour surgically removed, trial data showed. Tagrisso is already the crown jewel in the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's portfolio, raking in $5.4 billion last year.

Drugmaker Mallinckrodt may file for bankruptcy again -WSJ

Pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt Plc is considering options including filing for bankruptcy again as a $200 million opioid settlement payment is due within weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter. The drugmaker is required to make the payment to an opioid-victims compensation trust by mid-June as part of its chapter 11 exit plan, the newspaper said.

Drug developer Servier's brain cancer drug slows tumor progession considerably

Private drug developer Servier Group said on Sunday its experimental brain cancer treatment has considerably slowed the progession of a type of brain tumor, a positive in a field that has not seen progress for more than 20 years. The drug, vorasidenib, delayed the growth of grade 2 glioma for a median of 27.7 months, more than twice compared to 11.1 months for patients who received a placebo.

(With inputs from agencies.)