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johnson & johnson on tuesday said its lung cancer treatment helps people live at least a year longer AstraZenecaTagrisso is a go-to drug for certain types of lung cancer.
J&J said in a statement that its drugs Librevant and Lazcruze demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful survival improvements compared to Tagrisso in pivotal trials. J&J executives said in interviews that they expect the company’s benefits to last at least a year and possibly longer. The company plans to present full results at a medical conference later this year.
“This is an absolute fire starter,” said Biljana Naumovic, president of U.S. Solid Tumors at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicines. “People were looking for differences in overall survival rates.”
J&J is trying to replace AstraZeneca’s blockbuster drug Tagrisso. Tagrisso, a once-daily pill, has revolutionized the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations, extending median survival to nearly three years. These genetic errors cause cancer cells to grow. According to , they are responsible for 10% to 15% of lung cancer cases in the United States. american lung association.
J&J executives hailed the results as a game changer in the treatment of this type of lung cancer. However, Dr. Stephen Liu, chief of thoracic oncology and director of developmental therapy at Georgetown University Lombardi Research Institute, said this therapy has more side effects and requires IV infusions every few weeks, which is a risk that doctors and patients may not be able to tolerate. There is no guarantee that the company will switch to using LiveLevant and LazCruse, he said. cancer center.
“Announcing that this will lead to people living longer is going to be viewed harshly,” Liu said.
He wants to see who has benefited the most and be able to treat those patients more aggressively while sparing those who are less likely to respond. Rybrevant and Lazcluze can cause a rash and cause nails to split.
Like Tagrisso, J&J’s regimen blocks the EGFR protein to prevent cancer cells from growing. It also targets MET, a common pathway cancers use to acquire drug resistance.
J&J projects annual sales of Rybrevant and Lazcluze could exceed $5 billion. Tagrisso brought in about $6 billion for AstraZeneca in 2023.
