Merck and Moderna launched a second late-stage study of the combination of Keytruda with V940, an individualized neoantigen therapy they are jointly developing. The companies said the Phase 3 randomized clinical trial will evaluate the combination as adjuvant treatment in patients with certain types of resected non-small cell lung cancer. (MarketWatch)

Cigna abandoned plans to merge with rival Humana, but the potential for such a blockbuster merger heaped fresh worries on concerns that have been steadily growing for years that payer consolidation is systematically whittling away at healthcare options and making them more expensive. “Usually, when there is competition, firms are under pressure. They try to be more innovative. They try to be more customer friendly. But when there are fewer competitors, they are not under that pressure,” said Mohammad N. Elahee, professor of international business at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. (The Hartford Courant)

Hoba Therapeutics raised $25 million in a Series A funding round as it seeks to advance its candidates for pain and hearing loss. One of its non-opioid candidates, HB-086, is being investigated for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). (Endpoints News)

Only about 15% of Americans over 60 have received one of the two new RSV shots, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in May and are the first-ever vaccines against the disease. Just 16 percent more said they definitely planned to, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The New York Times)

A New Yorker article delved into how we routinely test for chemicals that cause mutations, but what about the dark matter of carcinogens—substances that don’t create cancer cells but rouse them from their slumber? “Cancer cells live and grow surrounded by normal cells—buried in a landscape of normal tissue. Shouldn’t we extend our focus to the larger ecosystem where cancers arise?” Siddhartha Mukherjee wrote. (The New Yorker)

For yesterday’s Five things for pharma marketers to know, click here.