The week in pharma: action, reaction and insight – week to February 23, 2024

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

Last week saw UK pharma major AstraZeneca announce that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accept its biological license application (BLA) for datopotamab deruxtecan for the treatment of lung cancer and also release positive Phase III results for Tagrisso in lung cancer. The FDA also granted approval for US biotech Iovance’s Amtagvi as a treatment for advanced melanoma, and slapped a clinical trial hold on US drug developer RAPT Therapeutics’ study of zelnecirnon in atopic dermatitis. Also of note, Rigel Pharmaceuticals entered into a deal to acquire US rights to cancer drug Gavreto that were recently handed back to Blueprint Medicines by Swiss pharma giant Roche.

AstraZeneca’s Dato-DXd BLA accepted; Tagrisso succeeds in Stage III NSCLC