Today, a brief rundown of news from Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson, as well as updates from Bayer, the World Health Organization and Frazier Life Sciences that you may have missed.
Bristol Myers Squibb said Thursday its cancer immunotherapy Opdivo won expanded use in early stage non-small cell lung cancer, gaining Food and Drug Administration approval as treatment before and after surgery to prevent disease recurrence, a setting the company calls “perioperative.” Approval was based on the CheckMate-77T study, which found people who received Opdivo and chemotherapy before surgery, and Opdivo alone after surgery, had a 42% reduced risk of relapse, progression or death compared with those given chemotherapy and placebo. Opdivo is the only PD-1 blocking immunotherapy to have FDA clearance as a treatment before surgery as well as in this new perioperative setting. Merck & Co.’s rival drug Keytruda is approved for use in the perioperative and post-surgical settings. — Jonathan Gardner
Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it will spend $2 billion to build a new biologics manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina, to meet anticipated demand for its medicines treating cancer, immune-related conditions and the nervous system. The company will break ground on the plant in 2025 and expects to employ 420 full-time employees there, drawing on the skilled bioscience workforce in the region. J&J now has five drug manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and 13 in other countries, according to its most recent annual report. — Jonathan Gardner
Meanwhile, J&J is also cutting jobs. The pharmaceutical giant is laying off 231 employees in its New Jersey operations, according to a September WARN notice. It’s not alone, either. Bayer is eliminating 57 jobs in the state while Bristol Myers Squibb is reducing the headcount at its Lawrenceville campus by another 79. Additionally, The Irish Times reports that Pfizer plans to chop 210 jobs across three sites in Ireland. — Jacob Bell
On Tuesday, a World Health Organization advisory group recommended pregnant women get vaccinated against RSV, and for infants to receive an antibody to prevent disease. RSV season typically begins in the fall, and most newborns are infected at some point. Pfizer markets its vaccine Abrysvo for older adults and for pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks gestation. Sanofi and partner AstraZeneca sell the antibody Beyfortus, which gained U.S. approval last year but hit supply hurdles throughout the season. The two companies said they are ready to meet demand this upcoming season. — Delilah Alvarado
Frazier Life Sciences, a California-based investment firm focused on healthcare and medicine, announced Wednesday that it raised another $630 million. The money will go to the firm’s “evergreen Public Fund,” which is “long-only and designed to navigate volatility and liquidity in small- and mid-cap public biotech companies.” Since launching three years ago, that fund has raised around $1.7 billion in total and seen a few of its largest positions, including Sierra Oncology, Chinook Therapeutics and Alpine Immune Sciences, acquired via multibillion-dollar deals. — Jacob Bell
