Cancer survivors and their supporters demonstrated last month outside New York City Hall in a push for stricter rules regarding tobacco products, a posting on the American Cancer Society (ACS) website said.

The European Commission has allowed Spinraza to be used to combat 5q spinal muscular atrophy.

The makers of the first dual-therapy treatment to hold HIV at bay filed papers June 1 for approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical said Brineura (cerliponase alfa), the first treatment for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2) in the European Union, received marketing approval by the European Commission through an accelerated review procedure.

For months, the proposed merger of insurance giants Anthem and Cigna was in the news headlines as several groups opposed such an action, citing that such a commanding control of the health insurance market would not benefit patients.

Novartis said in a release that expanded use of Zykadia to include the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive has been recommended by the the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).

The results of testing on three new medicines from AstraZeneca for bladder, ovarian and lung cancer will be announced at the June meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized Keytruda, a new Merck & Co. Inc. medication, to treat cancer patients with solid tumors that have withstood three standard-of-care drugs.

Zykadia, a drug found to double the life expectancy of certain lung cancer patients, now has authorization from the Food & Drug Administration for use as an initial treatment for the disease once it has spread to the brain.

A Merck drug credited by strong Phase 3 clinical data for HIV-1 suppression despite its possibility of deadly skin side effects has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for once-daily doses along with other antivirals.

Merck said the European Commission has approved the use of its Keytruda to treat adult patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma in some instances, allowing the company to market the drug throughout the European Union and in Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway at an approved dose of 200 milligrams every three weeks with doctor supervision.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to decide in September whether Opdivo, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s cancer drug, can be used to treat malignancies of the liver as a follow up to sorafenib threapy.

A proposed $54 billion mammoth merger between two of the country's biggest health insurers is off after Anthem recently said it is terminating its agreement with Cigna.

Apricus Biosciences said that the Vitaros drug-device combination human factor testing study required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun.

Promising results of tests for a new drug that may help multiple sclerosis (MS) patients were announced at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston.

A dual treatment option for a deadly strain of hepatitis C has received approval from the China Food and Drug Administration, opening a new market for the two drugs by New Jersey-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The treatment involves the simultaneous use of two oral medications from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daklinza and Sunvepra.

AstraZeneca, a leading lung cancer research company, said in a recent release that the European Commission (EC) has approved its Tagrisso (osimertinib), a once-daily tablet for adults with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Four new topical anti-herpesvirus medicines under development by NanoViricides Inc. are set to undergo clinical trials on humans, potentially helping the company crack a billion-dollar market.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told 14 U.S.-based companies to stop making false statements about products claiming to treat cancer.

Janssen-Cilag International NV (Janssen), a Johnson & Johnson company, said it recently won approval from the European Commission (EC) to combine its first-in-class CD38-directed monoclonal antibody Darzalex (daratumumab) with other drugs to treat adult multiple myeloma patients with a minimum of one previous therapy.