Trending News Today: Lung Cancer Drug Candidate Fails to Meet Trial Goal

On Thursday, the FDA announced the launch of efforts aimed at curbing underage use of tobacco products, the Washington Post reported. According to the article, the agency said it will limit sales of many flavored e-cigarettes to brick-and-mortar outlets with age-restricted entry or areas inside stores that are not accessible to individuals under 18 years of age. The FDA also said that it will seek a ban on the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes, the article reported.

AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy durvalumab (Imfinzi) failed to meet the main goal in its clinical trial of patients with stage 4 lung cancer, Reuters reported. According to the article, the study found that durvalumab on its own and in combination with tremelimumab did not improve overall survival versus chemotherapy in patients with PD-L1 on 25% or more of their cancer cells. Durvalumab is currently approved for stage 3 lung cancer in more than 40 countries, the article reported.

Arena Pharmaceuticals sold its hypertension drug candidate ralinepag to United Therapeutics in an $800 million deal that could potentially be worth up to $1.2 billion, STAT reported. According to the article, United will receive most of the rights to the drug, which is currently being tested for pulmonary arterial hypertension in phase 3 clinical trials. Arena said the $800 million will be put towards developing etrasimod, its drug candidate for autoimmune diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, the article reported.