Reuters Health News Summary

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.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

J&J-backed Rapport Therapeutics seeks about $637 million valuation in US IPO

Rapport Therapeutics is targeting a valuation of about $637 million in its initial public offering in the United States, as the biopharmaceutical company joins a slew of firms looking to list their shares amid a rebound in the capital markets. The U.S. IPO market is staging a strong comeback after two dismal years, thanks to a rally in the stock market and growing optimism of a possible interest rate cut this year.

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 pill surpasses expectations in mid-stage 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 its shares up about 32%. The California-based drug developer is vying for a share of the global obesity treatment market that is estimated to be worth about $150 billion by the early 2030s.

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 products 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 is no longer pursuing the planned spin-off of the critical care unit, which develops and sells advanced blood and heart monitoring systems that are used in surgical and intensive care settings, announced in April.

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.

US FDA advisers to consider if new COVID shots should target JN.1 variant

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will vote whether to recommend that COVID-19 vaccines for 2024-25 should target the JN.1 variant, the most dominant this year, documents filed on Monday showed. Shares of Novavax soared 11% in morning trade, after the documents were released. The company had said last month it would only be able to offer a COVID vaccine in the United States this autumn if regulators accept the shot it started manufacturing to target the JN.1 variant.