New Jersey

The pharma continued its clinical losing streak on Thursday with the announcement that it is discontinuing late-stage studies of the anti-PD-1 therapy in non-small cell lung cancer and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
Johnson & Johnson’s proposed changes to the hospital drug discount program are inconsistent with the federal statute, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.
FDA
Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday that the FDA has approved Rybrevant with Lazcluze as a first-line chemotherapy-free treatment for patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer.
Merck is paying $700 million upfront to buy Curon Biopharmaceutical’s bispecific antibody which depletes B cells and is being investigated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and B cell acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Citius Pharmaceuticals’ Lymphir is a reformulated version of denileukin diftitox—an FDA-approved cancer therapy—and the only treatment for cutaneous T cell lymphoma that targets the IL-2 receptor located on malignant T cells and Tregs.
The pharma said Thursday it is stopping a late-stage study of its blockbuster Keytruda plus the anti-TIGIT antibody vibostolimab and chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, following a recommendation from an independent data monitoring committee.
Crexont was previously rejected by the regulator in June 2023, citing insufficient safety data. However, Amneal Pharmaceuticals’ resubmission included findings from a healthy volunteer study.
After Merck noted the issue in its Q2 earnings call without providing specifics, analysts are left in the dark about the HPV vaccine’s future in China.
After dropping $4 billion on a deal with the Japanese company last year, Merck is getting back some of its investment as Daiichi Sankyo buys into a Phase I/II T-cell engager therapy acquired from Harpoon Therapeutics.
IRA
Reiterating his ruling in a prior Inflation Reduction Act case, New Jersey District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi ruled that Novo Nordisk’s participation in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program is of its own free will.
PRESS RELEASES