Merck's KEYTRUDA QLEX Approved in Japan for Subcutaneous Use Across All KEYTRUDA Indications

AstraZeneca has opened its newest global strategic research and development center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, part of a more than $1 billion investment in the state that will expand its Massachusetts workforce by over 50 percent in the coming years. The 570,000 square foot, 18 story site at 290 Binney Street will house nearly 2,000 researchers and scientists alongside the company's genomic medicine site at 100 Binney Street, and includes ten floors of interconnecting laboratories integrating robotics, continuous automation and agentic AI. The scientists will work on AstraZeneca's oncology, cell therapy, chronic disease and rare disease pipeline, targeting conditions such as COPD, obesity and metabolic disease, breast cancer and rare diseases, while pursuing future innovation in cell therapy and biologics to fuel growth beyond 2030. The Massachusetts investment sits within AstraZeneca's broader $50 billion US investment, and the new site joins its other US-based global strategic research center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, as part of a coast-to-coast footprint of 24 R&D, manufacturing, commercial and corporate sites. Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said Kendall Square is a leading innovation ecosystem and one of the key locations where AstraZeneca will discover the next generation of scientific breakthroughs, while Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey called the investment a major vote of confidence in the state.

Johnson & Johnson is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 13, with investors focused on sales performance in its Innovative Medicine segment. The segment has posted five consecutive quarters of sales above $15 billion despite the loss of exclusivity of Stelara, and J&J expects continued above-market growth driven by Darzalex, Erleada, Carvykti, Tecvayli and Rybrevant/Lazcluze in oncology, Tremfya and other immunology products, and Spravato and Caplyta in neuroscience. Newer launches are expected to contribute more than in the second quarter, with Inlexzo sales more than doubling sequentially from around $30 million in the first quarter, while investors will watch for initial sales of the newly launched plaque psoriasis pill Icotyde and Imaavy, approved in the United States in August for a second indication, warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Stelara's loss of exclusivity cut the segment's growth by 760 basis points in the second quarter, and the negative impact is expected to be steeper in the third quarter, with biosimilar competition from Amgen, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Samsung Bioepis/Sandoz, along with declining Imbruvica sales and European biosimilars for Simponi and a U.S. generic version of Opsumit, weighing on results. Overall, Innovative Medicine is expected to have been J&J's principal growth engine in the quarter, with oncology providing the strongest contribution and Tremfya helping offset Stelara's biosimilar-driven decline.