Health News Roundup: Novo Nordisk-owner to expand in India this year; Ionis Pharma's fatty liver disease drug succeeds in mid-stage trial and more

This strain has already killed a handful of dolphins in Chile and Peru, some 50,000 seals and sea lions along the coasts, and at least half a million birds regionwide. Pfizer's blood cancer therapy Adcetris succeeds in late-stage trial Pfizer said on Tuesday its drug, Adcetris, extended survival in patients with the most common type of lymphoma in a late-stage study, bolstering efforts to expand the use of the treatment gained through its $43 billion purchase of Seagen.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Lilly partners with Amazon to deliver Zepbound and other drugs

Eli Lilly said on Wednesday it has brought on Amazon.com's pharmacy unit to deliver drug prescriptions sent to its direct-to-consumer service, LillyDirect. Lilly launched the platform in January to enable patients to obtain their migraine, diabetes and obesity drugs, including the popular weight-loss medicine Zepbound, directly from the company via delivery from online pharmacy Truepill.

Merck to test single-dose regimen of HPV vaccine Gardasil 9

Merck & Co said on Wednesday it plans to conduct clinical trials testing its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil 9 to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a single-dose regimen compared to the approved three-dose regimen. The company said it plans to conduct two separate trials testing Gardasil 9 in men and women 16-26 years old to examine whether a single dose of the vaccine provides comparable long-term protection when compared with the approved three-dose regimen.

Novo Nordisk-owner to expand in India this year

Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk, plans to open an office in India this year to tap innovation and a growing healthcare market, its CEO Kasim Kutay said on Tuesday. The firm, whose assets under management rose to 149 billion euros ($163 billion) at the end of 2023 from 108 billion a year earlier, manages a portfolio of 170 companies across life sciences and capital investments in equities, fixed-income assets, and real estate.

Ionis Pharma's fatty liver disease drug succeeds in mid-stage trial

Ionis Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday its experimental drug to treat a type of fatty liver disease met the main goal of reducing inflammation of the critical organ in a mid-stage trial. The results come as companies race to bring the first approved treatment for the disease and tap into a global market expected to surpass $16 billion by 2030, according to market research firm Vision Research Reports.

US FDA declines to approve Viatris's injection for multiple sclerosis

The U.S. FDA has declined to approve Viatris and Mapi Pharma's once-a-month injection for treating relapsing forms of debilitating neurological condition multiple sclerosis (MS), the companies said on Monday. The companies were reviewing the content of the health regulator's so called complete response letter (CRL) and would soon determine the appropriate next steps, they said, without disclosing further details.

US FDA staff flag safety concerns from J&J, Bristol's CAR-T therapies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's staff reviewers on Wednesday raised safety concerns over the use of Johnson & Johnson's and Bristol-Myers Squibb's cancer therapies as earlier treatments for blood cancer patients. Staff reviewers said that the pattern of early deaths observed in patients treated with both the therapies in their respective trials raised uncertainty about their overall survival benefit.

Bird flu strain raises alarm as virus kills South American wildlife

The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has spread more aggressively than ever before in wild birds and marine mammals since arriving in South America in 2022, raising the risk of it evolving into a bigger threat to humans, according to interviews with eight scientists. Of more immediate concern is evidence the disease, once largely confined to bird species, appears to be spreading between mammals. This strain has already killed a handful of dolphins in Chile and Peru, some 50,000 seals and sea lions along the coasts, and at least half a million birds regionwide.

Pfizer's blood cancer therapy Adcetris succeeds in late-stage trial

Pfizer said on Tuesday its drug, Adcetris, extended survival in patients with the most common type of lymphoma in a late-stage study, bolstering efforts to expand the use of the treatment gained through its $43 billion purchase of Seagen. The New York-based drugmaker last year struck a deal to acquire Seagen and its targeted cancer therapies to reinforce its pipeline in the face of a steep fall in COVID-19 product sales and generic competition for some top-selling drugs.

US FDA staff raises concerns on Geron's blood disorder drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's staff reviewers said on Tuesday they were unclear if Geron's blood disorder drug provided a clear benefit to patients in a late-stage trial and raised multiple safety concerns with the treatment. Shares of the California-based company fell 11.5% following the release of the briefing documents, ahead of a meeting of the FDA's independent advisers scheduled for Thursday.

Global child mortality rates dropped in 2022 but progress slow, UN says

The number of children globally who died before their fifth birthday dropped to a record low of 4.9 million in 2022, but that still represents one death every six seconds, according to new United Nations estimates. While the mortality rate for under-5s has roughly halved since 2000, the world is still behind in the goal of reducing preventable deaths in that age group by 2030, and progress has slowed since 2015, the report, released on Wednesday, found.

(With inputs from agencies.)