Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA approves expanded use of J&J's cancer cell therapy; Geneos cancer vaccine shrinks liver tumors in small trial and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. FDA approves expanded use of J&J's cancer cell therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday allowed the expanded use of Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech's Carvykti cell therapy as an earlier treatment for patients with a type of blood cancer.

US FDA approves Daiichi, AstraZeneca drug for treatment of solid tumors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave accelerated approval for the expanded use of Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca's drug to treat patients with a type of solid tumor.

The drug, sold under the brand name Enhertu, originally won U.S. approval in late 2019 as a third-line treatment for HER-2-positive breast cancer patients, and the fresh approval opens the treatment across multiple HER2-expressing solid tumors.

Bristol Myers' schizophrenia drug reduces symptoms without weight gain in late-stage studies

Bristol Myers Squibb said on Saturday data from late-stage studies of its experimental schizophrenia drug showed it helped reduce symptoms of the disorder without the common side effect of weight gain tied to other antipsychotics. The drugmaker gained access to the treatment, called KarXT, through its $14 billion deal to buy Karuna Therapeutics last year. Long-term data of the drug reinforced the findings that were seen in previous short-term studies, the company said.

Geneos cancer vaccine shrinks liver tumors in small trial

Nearly a third of patients with advanced liver cancer who received a personalized vaccine developed by Geneos Therapeutics along with an immunotherapy drug in a small, early trial saw their tumors shrink, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday. The result was roughly twice the response typically seen with the immunotherapy alone, the researchers said.

Judge slashes Bayer $1.56 billion Roundup verdict to $611 million

A Missouri judge slashed a $1.56 billion verdict against Bayer to $611 million for three people who claimed its Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, by reducing punitive damages. Bayer said on Friday it is appealing. The German company's Monsanto unit had been found liable in November by a Cole County, Missouri, jury to Valorie Gunther of New York, Jimmy Draeger of Missouri and Daniel Anderson of California, who blamed their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on their exposure to Roundup.

US FDA allows expanded use of J&J, Bristol Myers cell therapies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed cell therapies of Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb to be used for treating patients in the earlier stages of a type of blood cancer, the companies said on Friday. Both J&J and Bristol Myers' therapies helped extend the time that patients lived without disease progression in late stage studies — more than when patients received 'standard of care' treatments, the companies said in separate statements.

(With inputs from agencies.)