Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) dropped two sets of lung cancer data over the weekend, and both point in the same direction: better tolerability and longer lives for patients with hard-to-treat EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer.

COPERNICUS: A Cleaner Safety Profile

Start with the Phase 2b COPERNICUS study, announced Monday. It evaluated subcutaneous RYBREVANT FASPRO combined with LAZCLUZE in patients with previously untreated advanced NSCLC harboring common EGFR mutations. The trial enrolled 214 U.S. patients who received the combination alongside prophylactic measures designed to mitigate blood clots and skin-related side effects.

At a median follow-up of 8.3 months, the key treatment-related side effects stayed low. Just 8% of participants discontinued treatment due to adverse events. Skin rash occurred in 25% of patients, while administration-related reactions and venous thromboembolism each affected 3%.

No patients discontinued because of administration-related reactions, and only 1% stopped therapy due to rash or blood clots. Those numbers compare favorably to the intravenous regimen tested in the Phase 3 MARIPOSA study, reflecting lower numerical event rates.

PAPILLON: Six Extra Months

Then there's the Phase 3 PAPILLON study, whose final overall survival results the company shared Sunday. That trial pitted intravenous RYBREVANT plus chemotherapy against chemotherapy alone in advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations.

Patients on the combination regimen reached a median overall survival of 34.3 months, versus 27.9 months for chemotherapy alone. That's more than six months of extra median survival. A prespecified analysis accounting for the 76% of chemotherapy patients who crossed over to second-line RYBREVANT indicated a 43% reduction in the risk of death.

The combination also extended progression-free survival through a second disease progression to 28.3 months, compared to 17.5 months for chemotherapy alone.

JNJ Price Action: Johnson & Johnson shares were down 0.74% to $264.35 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to market data.