The World’s Largest Cancer Conference: Brainstorm Health

I’m trekking back over to New York from the west coast so it’ll have to be a short one from me today. Suffice to say, the ongoing American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting – the world’s largest cancer conference – has plenty of material for your drug development fix.

Read all about it below, and back tomorrow with more.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Apple touts expanded Watch OS6 health capabilities. Apple certainly isn't shying away from its investments in health care. At an event announcing various new product updates, COO Jeff Williams outlined a number of updates for the watchOS system tailored toward wellness. "watchOS 6 extends our commitment to helping users better manage their health and fitness with powerful and personal new tools," he said. Those features include a focus on women's health (including tracking and logging of menstrual cycle data) and an app seeking to promote ear health by, well, telling you to tone down the noise.

INDICATIONS

Amgen surprises with early lung, colorectal cancer drug data. Shares of biotech giant Amgen spiked 3.5% on Monday after the company released promising, if early-stage, data on an experimental drug to treat forms of lung and colorectal cancer at the ongoing American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago. What makes this particular data so interesting is it's the first example of a new (but long-developing) class of cancer treatments called KRAS inhibitors. As analysts noted, however, this was a small participant pool in an early stage trial. The proof will be in the ensuing pudding.

Merck snags an expanded antibiotic approval. U.S. drug maker Merck's years-old acquisition of an antibiotic is paying dividends. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday approved Zerbaxa as a treatment for hospital-acquired infections. That's just one victory for Merck today - the company also presented new ASCO data for its superstar cancer immunotherapy Keytruda showing a lasting survival benefit in lung cancer patients. (Reuters)

THE BIG PICTURE

The long-term brain hit. Repeated brain injuries have been tied to devastating cognitive decline and behavioral changes. But a new study suggests that even mild injuries to the region can have long-term effects. "Two weeks after their injuries, 87 percent of brain injury patients and 93 percent of the other trauma patients reported functional limitations, a difference that was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance," Reuters reports. (Reuters)

REQUIRED READING

What Americans Get Wrong About the Relationship Between the U.S. and China, by Kristen Bellstrom

Why Pride Month Is More Important Than Ever: raceAhead, by Ellen McGirt

Tesla's Secret Source of Cash Has Finally Been Revealed, by Bloomberg

7 Books In Business and Journalism You Should Read This Summer, by Rachel King