Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
AstraZeneca drug fails one main goal in study of chronic immune disease
Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Tuesday that its asthma drug Fasenra failed to meet one of two main goals of a late-stage study assessing the treatment’s benefits in a chronic allergic condition that causes difficulty in swallowing. The condition, eosinophilic esophagitis, is characterised by inflammation and damage to the esophagus and typically requires repeated treatments, such as corticosteroids and diet change, to ease the symptoms.
Novartis to uphold generic drug supply despite surging energy costs
Novartis said its generic drugs division Sandoz would continue to provide medicines to all of its European markets because a surge in energy costs can be offset by efficiency measures. “We feel confident we can maintain supply of our generics to European markets and markets around the world and we believe we have built adequate contingency plans for energy to ensure our plants are adequately supplied and similarly are able to offset inflation through productivity measures,” Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan told journalists in a call after the release of third-quarter results.
Merck to donate Ebola vaccine candidate for research program in Uganda
Merck & Co said on Tuesday it was planning to produce and donate investigational Sudan ebolavirus vaccine to a global non-profit organization’s research program in Uganda, which is facing an outbreak of the disease. The investigational vaccine that will be donated to IAVI is similar to Merck’s Ervebo vaccine, which is approved against the Zaire ebolavirus strain.
Biden gets latest COVID vaccine, urges Americans to do same
U.S. President Joe Biden rolled up his sleeve and received an updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, using the occasion to urge more Americans to get the booster before the upcoming holiday season, especially seniors. “I’m calling on all Americans to get their shot just as soon as they can,” Biden said shortly before a doctor gave him the new shot.
China’s Shanghai extends free COVID testing services to Nov 30
China’s financial hub Shanghai will extend its free and regular COVID-19 testing services to Nov. 30 from Oct. 31, the city government said in a notice on its WeChat account on Tuesday.
Fungal infection list launched by WHO flags global health threat
The World Health Organization has drawn up the first ever list of fungal pathogens posing the greatest threat to human health, warning that some strains are increasingly drug-resistant and becoming more widespread. The U.N. body, which has similar lists for viruses and bacteria, said fungal infections and their increasing resistance to treatment were a growing risk. However, a historic lack of focus on the danger meant there were huge gaps in knowledge, as well as a lack of surveillance, treatments and diagnostics.
Johnson & Johnson’s blood cancer therapy gets U.S. FDA approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Johnson & Johnson’s therapy for treating a type of multiple myeloma, the company said on Tuesday, giving another treatment option to patients with the incurable blood cancer. J&J’s teclistamab, branded as Tecvayli, is approved for treating adults with multiple myeloma that is hard to treat or has come back after receiving four or more prior lines of certain classes of therapies, the company said.
No surge expected in global COVID cases this winter – IHME report
Global COVID-19 infections are projected to rise slowly to about 18.7 million average daily cases by February next year from the current 16.7 million daily driven by the northern hemisphere’s winter months, the University of Washington said in an analysis. The increase in infections is not expected to cause a surge in deaths, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) said. It forecast that global daily deaths would average 2,748 people on Feb. 1 compared with around 1,660 now.
Biogen confident in Alzheimer’s drug ahead of rivals’ data
Biogen Inc on Tuesday said the Alzheimer’s disease drug it is developing with Japan’s Eisai Co Ltd would be used by doctors in a competitive market as investors wait for data from rival therapies made by Eli Lilly and Co and Roche. The drug, lecanemab was shown to slow the progress of the disease by 27% in a trial last month, and additional data is expected next month.
Lower prostate cancer screening rates linked with more advanced cancers
A decline in prostate cancer screening has been linked to subsequent increases in advanced cancers, according to data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), findings that may spur revisiting current U.S. testing guidelines. A new study, involving more than 5 million men over age 40 at 128 VA facilities across the country between 2005 and 2019, found that when screening was encouraged, later diagnoses of incurable advanced malignancies were less likely.
(With inputs from agencies.)
