Novartis announced positive news for patients with metastatic breast cancer. New data showed Kisqali (ribociclib), in combination with the chemotherapy drug fulvestrant, added nearly 16 months of survival benefit to the lives of patients compared to fulvestrant alone. 

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca shared positive results from the company’s TOPAZ-1 Phase III trial on Imfinzi (durvalumab) in increasing the chances for survival in advanced biliary tract cancer patients when combined with standard-of-care chemotherapy regimens.

AstraZeneca announced positive high-level data from the HIMALAYA Phase III trial of a single, high priming dose of tremelimumab plus Imfinzi (durvalumab) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer, who had not had previous systemic therapy and were not eligible for localized treatment.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most devestating diagnoses and highest unmet needs in the oncology space. EQRx, which intends to solve pricing and access challenges for patients, unveiled new data at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2021 showing that it might just have the answer to NSCLC too.

A study published in the BMJ suggests that about one-third of cancer indications receiving approval under an Accelerated Approval pathway are still on product labels even after follow-up studies did not confirm their benefits.

Findings from the Phase III EMPOWER-Lung 3 trial, announced Aug. 5 by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, show that a combination regimen comprising the PD-1 inhibitor Libtayo and platinum-doublet chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone in patients with metastatic or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Bristol Myers Squibb shared new details on the global biopharmaceutical firm’s Phase III research on a potential first-line treatment for people who have been diagnosed with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. 

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi announced that the European Commission approved the PD-1 inhibitor Libtayo (cemiplimab) for the first-line treatment of adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor cells have ≥50% PD-L1 expression and no EGFR, ALK or ROS1 aberrations. The EC also approved Libtayo in advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Blueprint Medicines’ Ayvakit (avapritinib) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis.

Novartis

Men with a deadly form of advanced prostate cancer who failed other treatments survived four months longer after getting an experimental tumor-targeting radiation therapy from Swiss drugmaker Novartis, data released on June 3 showed.