Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca's Tagrisso slashes death risk in certain post-surgery lung cancer patients; Cancer vaccines poised to unlock 'new treatment paradigm' with Merck/Moderna data and more

The results, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, follow earlier promising data from the trial showing the customized mRNA vaccine given in combination with Merck's Keytruda cut the risk of death or recurrence of melanoma by 44% compared with Keytruda alone. 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.

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.

Cancer vaccines poised to unlock 'new treatment paradigm' with Merck/Moderna data

Adding an experimental mRNA-based vaccine from Moderna Inc and Merck & Co reduced the risk that the most deadly skin cancer would spread by 65% over treatment with an immunotherapy alone in a midstage trial, the companies reported on Monday. The results, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, follow earlier promising data from the trial showing the customized mRNA vaccine given in combination with Merck's Keytruda cut the risk of death or recurrence of melanoma by 44% compared with Keytruda alone.

Analysis-Stelara patent deal puts J&J back on path to $57 billion 2025 revenue forecast

Johnson & Johnson's legal settlement with Amgen Inc to delay a biosimilar version of its blockbuster psoriasis treatment Stelara until January 2025 could make the drug a larger contributor to J&J's 2024 and 2025 sales than Wall Street is forecasting. Stelara, introduced in 2009, has been J&J's top-selling drug since 2019, with sales reaching $9.7 billion in 2022. Its patents begin to expire this year, opening the door to a cheaper biosimilar entering the market, and raising expectations that the company would need to lower the $13,000 per month price of Stelara.

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.