Health Breakthroughs: Cancer Vaccine Triumphs & Anti-Disease Innovations

Recent health news highlights include the success of Moderna-Merck's cancer vaccine in improving survival rates, Agios Pharmaceuticals' blood disorder drug meeting late-stage study goals, and GSK’s shares tumbling due to Zantac lawsuits. Additionally, Finland's free contraception policy drastically reduced teenage abortions, and other significant medical advancements were announced.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Moderna-Merck skin cancer vaccine shows survival benefit in long-term follow-up

Moderna and partner Merck & Co said on Monday their cancer vaccine in combination with blockbuster cancer therapy Keytruda improved survival and showed durable efficacy in a mid-stage study in patients with a deadly form of skin cancer. Detailed data on Monday from the 157-patient trial showed that after two and a half years, melanoma patients that had received the cancer vaccine combination showed an overall survival rate of 96%, compared with 90.2% with Keytruda alone.

Agios Pharmaceuticals' blood disorder drug succeeds in late-stage study

Agios Pharmaceuticals said on Monday its experimental treatment for an inherited blood disorder met the main goal in a late-stage study. The drug candidate, mitapivat, significantly reduced the need for blood transfusion in adult patients with transfusion-dependent alpha—or beta-thalassemia.

GSK shares tumble 9% after 70,000 Zantac lawsuits allowed to proceed

Shares of GSK dropped more than 9% on Monday, after a Delaware judge allowed more than 70,000 lawsuits alleging its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, to go forward, in a blow for the British drugmaker. GSK said it disagreed with the ruling and would immediately appeal. Its shares were down 9.4% at 16 pounds by 1052 GMT, on course for their worst day since August 2022, with the drop wiping out nearly 7 billion pounds ($8.90 billion) of the company's market value.

Structure's obesity drug reduces more weight than expected in study

Structure Therapeutics said on Monday its experimental oral obesity drug helped reduce weight by 6.2% on average in a mid-stage study, exceeding Wall Street expectations and sending shares 20% higher in premarket trading. Structure's once-daily oral drug, GSBR-1290, belongs to the same class of treatments as Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound.

Delaware judge lets more than 70,000 Zantac lawsuits go forward

A Delaware judge has allowed more than 70,000 lawsuits over discontinued heartburn drug Zantac to go forward, ruling that expert witnesses can testify in court that the drug may cause cancer. The ruling on Friday by Judge Vivian Medinilla of the Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington is a setback for former Zantac makers GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim, which had argued that the expert witnesses' opinions lacked scientific support.

Free contraception helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%

The number of teenage abortions in Finland fell by 66% between 2000 and 2023, its public health institute THL said on Monday, attributing the reduction to the offer of free contraception to adolescents and compulsory sex education in schools. Finland also passed a law in 2022 liberalising abortion, at a time of deep divisions over abortion rights in Europe and court rulings in the U.S. that restricted access to terminations of unwanted pregnancies for millions of people there.

Edwards to sell critical care unit to Becton Dickinson for $4.2 billion

Edwards Lifesciences on Monday said it has agreed to sell its critical care products unit to Becton Dickinson in an all-cash deal valued at $4.2 billion to sharpen focus on its heart devices business. Edwards' critical care unit develops and sells advanced blood and heart monitoring systems that are used in surgical and intensive care settings.

GSK blood cancer drug nearly halves risk of death in late-stage trial

GSK's multiple myeloma drug Blenrep nearly halved the risk of disease progression or death compared to standard-of-care treatments for the incurable blood cancer, according to data from a late-stage study presented at a medical meeting on Sunday. In the trial of 302 patients with relapsed or difficult-to-treat multiple myeloma, 71% of those who received Blenrep in combination with the steroid dexamethasone and pomalidomide were alive without their disease worsening at the end of a year.

COVID shots should target JN.1, KP.2 subvariants in 2024-25 campaign, US FDA staff says

Vaccines for COVID-19 being developed and manufactured for the 2024-2025 campaign should target one of the currently dominant JN.1 variants and JN.1-derived subvariants such as KP.2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's staff reviewers said on Monday.

Pre-surgery treatment with Bristol Myers combination therapy leads to better skin cancer outcomes

Treatment with Bristol Myers Squibb's immunotherapies Opdivo and Yervoy prior to surgery for patients whose skin cancer had spread to lymph nodes had better outcomes than those who did not get the drugs before node removal procedures, according to data from a late-stage trial released on Sunday. The study of 423 patients with stage 3 melanoma found that 83.7% of patients who received the immunotherapies before their surgery were alive without the disease worsening after 12-months.