FDA OKs drug for advanced lung cancer
WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials have expanded approval of an innovative Merck drug to treat patients with an advanced form of the most common lung cancer.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Keytruda for advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients who have not responded to other therapies. The disease accounts for roughly seven out of eight cases of lung cancer in the U.S.
Keytruda is part of a promising new class of drugs called immunotherapies, which harness the body's immune system to help fight cancer. The company's injectable biotech drug works by blocking a protein found in certain tumors called PD-1, which inhibits the body's natural response against cancer cells.
Bristol-Myers Squibb won FDA approval for a similar indication for its own PD-1 drug, Opdivo, in March.
-- The Associated Press
Apple acquires voice assistance startup
Apple Inc. acquired a U.K. software startup that could give its digital assistant Siri a boost.
VocalIQ, based in Cambridge, England, has built software aimed at making it easier for people to speak to computers in a more natural way, an area in which Siri and other voice-recognition services have struggled. The company has been particularly focused on selling its product to auto manufacturers, including a partnership with General Motors Co., adding to speculation that Apple is developing its own car, according to the Financial Times, which reported the deal earlier.
Apple confirmed the acquisition. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
VocalIQ's technology is based on machine learning, an area of artificial intelligence in which a computer improves as it ingests more information. As a person uses VocalIQ's software, it helps a device become more accurate at predicting what commands to execute. Other technology companies, including Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., have been conducting similar research in this area.
Apple has been steadily improving Siri since its debut in 2011. While at first criticized for understanding only the most rudimentary of requests, the company has been adding features for getting sports scores, setting reminders, searching for an iPhone picture or finding directions.
-- Bloomberg News
Delta wants regulators to seize route
Delta Air Lines Inc. wants U.S. regulators to seize American Airlines Group Inc.'s new route from Los Angeles to Tokyo's close-in Haneda Airport, just months after the latter won it.
American has failed to file schedules or offer tickets for flights between the two cities, according to a regulatory document filed by Delta last week. Delta said this violated the government's requirement, issued in mid-June, to start the route within 60 days. Delta ceded access to Haneda to American after a protracted fight between the two airlines.
American plans to respond to the U.S. Transportation Department regarding Delta's claim, spokesman Matt Miller said.
"We're still working through the process to obtain slots" from the Japanese government that would allow American to fly the route, Miller said.
The two carriers have butted heads for months over rights to fly to Haneda, which many business travelers prefer to Tokyo's Narita International Airport because of its proximity to the Japanese capital.
-- Bloomberg News
Mayor: Uber 'forbidden' in Olympic city
RIO DE JANEIRO -- The city that hosts next year's Olympic Games has become the first in Brazil to ban the use of smartphone-based ride-hailing-applications like Uber.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes signed legislation recently passed by Rio's city council banning Uber and similar technologies from operating in the city.
"Uber is forbidden," Paes said after signing the bill. "We are open to discuss the matter, but it is forbidden."
Uber drivers who ignore the ban can be slapped with fines of nearly $500.
"It is a sad day for Rio," Uber said in a statement. The company said it is studying possible legal actions.
In Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo's city council also recently passed legislation banning Uber, but Mayor Fernando Haddad has yet to sign or veto the bill.
Uber has drawn increasing use since last year's World Cup of soccer, with many of its cars cleaner and newer than those of regular cabs.
Cab drivers complain Uber is unfair competition.
-- The Associated Press