Bristol's Zenbexus wins accelerated approval in multiple myeloma

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved an oral treatment for advanced multiple myeloma made by Bristol Myers Squibb, marking the debut of a new class of medicine for the blood cancer and the first drug cleared by U.S. regulators using a more sensitive measure of remission.

The Bristol drug, iberdomide, will be sold under the brand name Zenbexus. It will be used in combination with two other drugs, Darzalex and dexamethasone, to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy.

Zenbexus is part of a Bristol research effort to develop a new and more potent class of blood cancer drugs called CELMoDs that work by redirecting a cell’s natural machinery to eliminate cancer-causing proteins.

pbms

PBMs agree to display TrumpRx drug prices

A cadre of major pharmacy benefit managers have agreed to show patients TrumpRx cash prices alongside prices available through their insurance benefits. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the industry’s trade group, made its annnouncement conjunctly with the Trump administration and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.

The committed PCMA members include CVS Health, Express Scripts, OptumRx, Humana, and Prime Therapeutics. This means patients could see whether buying a drug through TrumpRx would be cheaper than using their pharmacy benefit, using existing real-time benefit tools, and other cost-transparency platforms.

“Consumers and patients are better off when they have more options and a clear view of their costs,” PCMA chief David Marin said in a statement. “If there are times when a product is cheapest on TrumpRx, patients should know that."

patents

Novartis wins UK patent fight over Entresto

Novartis has successfully defended a key U.K. patent protecting its blockbuster heart drug Entresto, Reuters writes. It beat back an attempt by generics maker Accord Healthcare to clear the way for a lower cost rival.

London’s High Court ruled that Novartis’ patent was valid and upheld a supplementary protection certificate that runs until 2028, finding that Accord’s planned generic would infringe it. The decision is a welcome reprieve for Novartis as it faces a wave of patent expirations, with Entresto accounting for roughly 10% of the company’s sales.

This has very much not been the case stateside, however: Last year, Novartis lost a bid in the U.S. to block a generic version of Entresto.

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