J&J declares that its combination of lung cancer drugs extends patients' lives.

• In a clinical trial, a combination of Johnson & Johnson's lung cancer drugs Rybrevant and Lazcluze kept people alive for at least a year longer than AstraZeneca's Tagrisso.
• J&J is attempting to replace AstraZeneca's successful drug, Tagrisso, which has revolutionized the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations.
• It remains to be seen how many doctors will adopt the treatment.

J&J announced that its lung cancer regimen, consisting of Rybrevant and Lazcluze, has shown a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement to survival compared to Tagrisso in a pivotal trial. The company expects the benefit to be at least a year and possibly longer, according to J&J executives in an interview. J&J plans to present the full results at a medical meeting later this year.

"Biljana Naumovic, president of U.S. Oncology Solid Tumor at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, stated, "This is an absolute igniter. People were searching for an overall survival difference.""

J&J is attempting to replace AstraZeneca's successful drug, Tagrisso, which has revolutionized the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations and increased the median survival rate to approximately three years. These genetic mutations enable cancer cells to multiply. They are responsible for between 10% and 15% of lung cancer cases in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association.

The successful outcome of J&J's clinical trial for Rybrevant and Lazcluze was hailed as a game-changer by executives, but doctors and patients may not switch to this regimen due to its more severe side effects and the need for infusions every few weeks, according to Dr. Stephen Liu, director of thoracic oncology and head of developmental therapeutics at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Liu stated that the announcement about people living longer would necessitate a more thorough examination.

He wants to determine which patients benefited the most so he can treat them more aggressively while sparing those who are less likely to respond. Rybrevant and Lazcluze can cause people to develop a rash and lead their fingernails to split.

J&J's treatment regimen, like Tagrisso, blocks the EGFR protein and targets MET, a common pathway cancer uses to develop resistance to drugs.

J&J predicts that Rybrevant and Lazcluze's annual sales could exceed $5 billion. AstraZeneca's Tagrisso generated approximately $6 billion in revenue in 2023.