Trending News Today: Shareholders Approve Cigna Merger with Express Scripts

Pfizer announced that its investigational drug tafamadis reduced the risk of death for patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, a rare and fatal heart disease, to approximately 30%, Reuters reported. According to the study, the drug reduced all-cause mortality over a 30-month period in patients with the disease to 29.5% versus 42.9% in patients who received a placebo. The drug also reduced the rate of cardiovascular-related hospitalization by approximately 32%, the article reported. There are currently no approved medications in the United States for transthyretin cardiomyopathy.

Cigna shareholders have approved the $52 billion acquisition of Express Scripts, The Hill reported. According to the article, the deal, which would merge Cigna with Express Scripts, still needs approval from the Department of Justice. The 2 companies hope to close the deal by the end of the year, The Hill reported.

Novartis announced that it received European approval for Kymriah for the treatment of blood cancer, Reuters reported. According to the article, Novartis aims to initially use the therapy in Europe to treat patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and later for adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Kymriah is also approved for both indications in the United States, the article reported.