Health News Roundup: Moderna ties up with Immatics to boost cancer vaccine development; AstraZeneca seeks to calm CEO speculation after shares drop and more

They said Novo may also have been responding to concerns voiced by the British government and patient advocacy groups over the off-label use for weight loss of its diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient as Wegovy. Explainer-Who should get a COVID vaccine this year? The U.S. drug regulator authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech as well as from Moderna on Monday as the country prepares to start an autumn vaccination campaign as soon as this week.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

UK's Syncona writes off 54.5 million stg after Novartis ends Gyroscope's therapy

British healthcare investment firm Syncona said on Monday Novartis has stopped the development of experimental eye treatment, GT005, which would result in payments write-off of 54.5 million pounds ($68.23 million) for Gyroscope Holdings Limited. ($1 = 0.7987 pounds)

Moderna ties up with Immatics to boost cancer vaccine development

Moderna said on Monday it has struck a deal with German drug developer Immatics for developing cancer vaccines and therapies, and would pay $120 million in cash and additional milestone payments. Moderna said the companies would use Immatics' drug discovery platform to develop mRNA-based cancer vaccines, and also study its own cancer vaccine for use in combination with Immatics' cancer therapy IMA203.

AstraZeneca's Tagrisso-chemo combo results raise bar for J&J cancer drug-analysts

Data released on Monday by AstraZeneca from a late-stage trial combining its blockbuster cancer drug Tagrisso with chemotherapy to treat a type of lung cancer raises the bar for Johnson & Johnson's rival treatment, analysts said. A brief summary from the Phase 3 trial, called FLAURA2, was released in May, and the detailed data was presented on Monday in Singapore at the World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Crinetics soars on 'picture perfect' data for hormonal disorder drug

Shares of drug developer Crinetics Pharmaceuticals jumped about 72% on Monday after its experimental treatment for a rare hormonal disorder not only succeeded, but performed better than Wall Street's expectations in a late-stage trial. The trial studied the oral drug in "biochemically controlled" patients who were on injections such as octreotide or lanreotide for the disorder known as acromegaly, in which the body produces an excess of growth hormone.

Novartis' Sandoz targets biosimilar version of J&J drug in Samsung deal

Novartis' generic-drugs unit Sandoz said on Monday it plans to launch a generic version of Johnson & Johnson's anti-inflammatory drug Stelara under a collaboration deal with Samsung Bioepis. For Sandoz, which is due to become an independent company early next month, the transaction means more investment in the growing market of biosimilars, which are lower-cost copies of complex biotech drugs that have lost patent protection.

Analysis-Wegovy launch in UK may underline Novo Nordisk's need to get ahead of Lilly

Novo Nordisk's decision to launch its weight-loss drug Wegovy in Britain last week despite severe supply constraints may partly have been motivated by a desire to get ahead of rival Eli Lilly's own similar drug, industry sources said. They said Novo may also have been responding to concerns voiced by the British government and patient advocacy groups over the off-label use for weight loss of its diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient as Wegovy.

Explainer-Who should get a COVID vaccine this year?

The U.S. drug regulator authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech as well as from Moderna on Monday as the country prepares to start an autumn vaccination campaign as soon as this week. A third vaccine from Novavax remains under review. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the shots for those aged 12 and above, and authorized them for emergency use in children aged 6 months through 11 years. Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are set to meet on Tuesday to discuss recommendations on who should get the vaccines this year. CDC Director Mandy Cohen said last month she expects the shots to be given annually, but not all doctors agree everyone needs them each year.

US FDA authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's updated COVID shots

The U.S. drug regulator on Monday authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that closely match the widely circulating Omicron variants, allowing the deployment of the shots to start as soon as this week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the shots, which target the XBB.1.5 subvariant, for those aged 12 and above, and authorized them for emergency use in children aged 6 months through 11 years.

AstraZeneca seeks to calm CEO speculation after shares drop

AstraZeneca appeared to play down speculation about the future of its CEO after its shares fell more than 4% on Monday following a British tabloid report that Pascal Soriot was considering leaving the drugmaker as soon as next year. The company initially declined to comment on the Mail on Sunday report, but later issued a statement saying: "We do not comment on market rumours. We have regulatory obligations and were there any truth in a rumour that could significantly impact our share price we would make an announcement."