One of the highlights of the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) earlier this month were results from the phase III POLO trial, demonstrating that treatment with Lynparza (olaparib, Astrazeneca plc/Merck & Co. Inc.) after platinum chemotherapy nearly doubled the progression-free interval (progression-free survival, PFS) in a group of 154 metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with germline BRCA mutations, from 3.8 months to 7.4 months.

The hunt is on for a dry eye disease (DED) therapy to replace Allergan plc's blockbuster, Restasis (ciclosporin), which the Dublin-based firm sought to shield behind the protective estate of 27 patents, including six famously assigned in 2017 to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and then licensed back in perpetuity, seeking to prevent their expiry in 2024. 

The digital therapeutics market is witnessing considerable growth globally thanks to the confluence of the development of new technologies, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and lifestyle-associated diseases and an aging population.