Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
South Korea to lift indoor mask mandate this month
South Korea will drop a face mask mandate for most indoor public places later this month, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday, though coverings will still be required on transport and in medical facilities. The lifting of the face-covering rules will take effect on Jan. 30, Han said, in the country’s latest step to ease COVID-19 rules as new cases show signs of a slowdown.
Fosun Pharma, Genuine Biotech to up output of COVID drug Azvudine with companies
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical said on Friday that it and Henan Genuine Biotech will cooperate with multiple companies to expand production of the COVID treatment Azvudine. Demand for the treatment has surged since the government dismantled its zero-COVID restrictions, the company said, adding that full production would continue over the Lunar New Year holidays.
China plays down COVID outbreak with holiday rush at full tilt
People across China crowded into trains and buses for one of its busiest days of travel in years on Friday, feeding fears of new surges in a raging COVID-19 outbreak that officials say has hit its peak. In comments reported by state media late Thursday, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the virus was at a “relatively low” level, while health officials said the number of COVID patients in hospital and with critical conditions was on the decline.
Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s drug setback extends rival Biogen’s lead – analysts
The U.S. health regulator’s rejection of accelerated approval for Eli Lilly and Co’s Alzheimer’s disease drug extends the market lead for rivals Eisai and Biogen’s treatment by months, analysts said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined to approve donanemab because Lilly had not submitted data from enough patients who were treated for at least a year, the drugmaker said late Thursday.
Eli Lilly says U.S. FDA rejects accelerated approval for Alzheimer’s drug
Eli Lilly and Co on Thursday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had rejected accelerated approval of its experimental Alzheimer’s drug because it had not submitted enough trial data from patients who were treated for at least a year. Lilly said the FDA had sent it a complete response letter for donanemab, an antibody designed to remove amyloid protein plaques from the brains of people with early Alzheimer’s. Such letters typically outline concerns and conditions that must be addressed to gain U.S. approval.
Sinopharm unit gets OK for clinical trials of mRNA COVID vaccine
Sinopharm said on Friday its biotech unit has received regulatory approval for clinical trials of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine targeting the Omicron variant. The unit, based in the commercial hub of Shanghai, has built a research and development platform, as well as workshops with annual production capacity of 2 billion doses of mRNA vaccine, Sinopharm said.
Rite Aid to dispense abortion pill in a limited number of stores
Rite Aid Corp plans to dispense abortion medication in a limited number of its pharmacies and will serve customers either in person or through mail delivery, the U.S. drugstore chain said on Thursday. The company aims to dispense the pill, mifepristone, in compliance with federal and state laws.
China reports big jump in COVID hospitalisations -WHO
China reported a large jump in COVID-19 hospitalisations in the week through to January 15 to the highest since the pandemic began, according to a weekly report published by the World Health Organization on Thursday. However, the WHO said it awaited “detailed provincial data disaggregated by week of reporting” on nearly 60,000 additional COVID-related hospital deaths reported by China last week and did not include them in the tally.
Japan to consider downgrading COVID-19 to less serious infectious disease
Japan will consider revising COVID-19 measures as early as this spring, downgrading the disease to a less serious category and relaxing guidance that people wear masks in public indoor places, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday. Speaking to media after meeting with relevant ministers, Kishida said he had instructed them to consider the specific requirements for a reclassification that would put COVID-19 in the same category as seasonal flu.
Abortion opponents push post-Roe agenda at annual Washington march
Thousands of abortion opponents plan to rally in Washington on Friday for the 50th annual “March for Life,” marking a new chapter for a movement that has organized for decades around a overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that recognized a women’s right to an abortion. With that goal now accomplished after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Roe’s precedent and gutted federal abortion rights last June, the leaders of March For Life hope to galvanize support for state and federal legislation placing further limits on abortion.
(With inputs from agencies.)
