“Johnson & Johnson’s combination of Rybrevant and Lazcluze has racked up an overall survival (OS) victory against AstraZeneca’s standard-of-care Tagrisso as a first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In reporting positive top-line results from the phase 3 MARIPOSA study in 1,074 patients with NSCLC with EGFR exon 19 deletions or L858R substitution mutations, J&J’s combo is expected to keep patients alive for at least a year longer than Tagrisso.

The results, details of which are yet to be revealed, show a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in OS, according to J&J. 

While it was a secondary endpoint from the trial, OS is typically viewed by patients and physicians as the ‘gold standard endpoint,’ according to Mark Wildgust, Ph.D., J&J’s vice president of oncology global medical affairs.

‘The (result) really shows that we have a new standard of care for patients with EGFR non-small cell lung cancer,’ Wildgust added in an interview with Fierce Pharma. ‘We know that Tagrisso gives about a three-year median overall survival. We’re expecting that we will be adding at least a year beyond that.'”

From Fierce Pharma.

“In some moderate or severe cases, figuring out which type of asthma a child has can help doctors match patients with proper treatment. But testing options have long been limited: Typically, doctors either draw blood to measure levels of immune cells or antibodies, or have children breathe into a mouthpiece to measure the nitric oxide in their breath.

However, the tests aren’t always accurate, and they only detect T2-high asthma, and thus can’t differentiate between other subtypes.

So researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed a more precise way to diagnose different asthma subtypes: collecting nasal swabs, then sequencing the RNA they contain. In people with two of the asthma subtypes, certain genes associated with inflammation are more highly expressed, so the researchers looked for those hallmarks. The third subtype was identified through the absence of those genetic hallmarks…

The analysis showed that the nasal swabs could accurately diagnose several asthma subtypes.”

From NBC News.

“Malaria deaths in Kenya have dropped by 93 per cent over the past [eight] years, a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveals.

According to the report, fatalities declined from 15,061 in 2015 to just 1,060 in 2023, surpassing the WHO’s target of a 63 per cent reduction and showcasing the effectiveness of public health interventions.

The reduction has been credited to intensified efforts such as the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets and the introduction of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, the first of its kind in the world.”

From The Eastleigh Voice.

“The TriOx test was evaluated on blood samples from patients with and without cancer who had been referred by their GP with symptoms that might be due to cancer, as well as on asymptomatic individuals without cancer. It demonstrated the ability to detect cancers (including early-stage cancers) and distinguish between people who had cancer and those that did not with 94.9% sensitivity and 88.8% specificity. This would ensure that patients without cancer are not subjected to unnecessary procedures, while those with cancer can receive treatment sooner.”

From University of Oxford.