Health News Roundup: South Africa reports first death due to cholera as cases rise to five; Moderna forecasts COVID sales decline as costs rise, shares fall and more

The development comes on the heels of rising cases of cholera in Southern Africa, with Malawi battling its deadliest outbreak yet, with more than 1,300 deaths. Moderna's combination skin cancer therapy receives FDA's breakthrough tag Moderna Inc said on Wednesday its experimental personalised mRNA skin cancer vaccine in combination with Merck & Co Inc's drug Keytruda has received breakthrough therapy designation from U.S. regulators as an additional treatment for high risk patients.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

South Africa reports first death due to cholera as cases rise to five

One person with no travel history has died due to cholera in South Africa, the health department said on Thursday, as the number of confirmed cases in the country rose to five. The development comes on the heels of rising cases of cholera in Southern Africa, with Malawi battling its deadliest outbreak yet, with more than 1,300 deaths.

Moderna forecasts COVID sales decline as costs rise, shares fall

Moderna Inc on Thursday forecast declining COVID-19 vaccine sales and rising costs for 2023, raising concerns the U.S. biotech company could post a loss this year, and its shares fell 7%. Moderna forecast $6 billion in costs for the year, $1 billion more than the revenue it expects to take in from sales of the COVID shot.

Moderna's combination skin cancer therapy receives FDA's breakthrough tag

Moderna Inc said on Wednesday its experimental personalised mRNA skin cancer vaccine in combination with Merck & Co Inc's drug Keytruda has received breakthrough therapy designation from U.S. regulators as an additional treatment for high risk patients. Shares of Moderna rise 2.5% to $164 after the market.

Analysis-Why public health officials are not panicked about bird flu

A new strain of bird flu that transmits easily among wild birds has triggered an explosive spread into new corners of the globe, infecting and killing a variety of mammals species and raising fears of a pandemic more lethal than COVID-19. But the very changes that have allowed the virus to infect wild birds so efficiently likely made it harder to infect human cells, leading disease experts told Reuters. Their views underpin global health officials' assessments that the current outbreak of H5N1 poses low risk to people.

Senator Warren urges U.S. patent office to scrutinize Merck's Keytruda

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren sent the nation's top patent regulator a letter urging close scrutiny of Merck & Co's requests for new patents on its blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda, saying further efforts to protect the drug could be an abuse of the system. "It is not at all clear that Merck is doing anything other than extending its monopoly power over the drug," Warren wrote to Kathi Vidal, director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in the letter sent on Wednesday and seen by Reuters.

Cambodia reports death of 11-year-old girl from bird flu

Cambodia reported an 11-year-old girl from a province east of the capital Phnom Penh died after being infected by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu. It was the first known human infection with the H5N1 strain in the Southeast Asian country since 2014, Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said in a statement on Thursday.

U.S. FDA approves Sanofi's bleeding disorder therapy

U.S. health regulators have approved Sanofi SA's therapy to treat a type of inherited bleeding disorder known as hemophilia A, the French drugmaker said on Thursday, and expects to launch it in the United States in April. With the Food and Drug Administration's approval, Sanofi's replacement therapy – brand named Altuviiio – enters a market dominated by rivals like Shire, Bayer AG and Novo Nordisk which sell factor replacement therapies that have been the standard treatment for decades.

Nektar Therapeutics' autoimmune disease drug fails mid-stage study

Nektar Therapeutics said on Thursday its experimental drug, developed in collaboration with Eli Lilly, to treat autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), had failed a mid-stage study. The drug, rezpeg, did not meet the primary goal of a 4-point reduction on SLEDAI-2K score, a global scoring index that measures disease activity in SLE patients and ranges from 0 to 105.

First Zantac cancer risk trial in California postponed by months

The first scheduled trial over claims that GSK Plc's heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, which had been set to begin Monday, has been postponed, likely by several months. The case, brought by California resident James Goetz in Alameda County Superior Court, is now expected to go to trial in June or July, though no date has yet been set, spokespersons for GSK and Goetz's attorneys said on Thursday.

French people's healthy lifespan up by more than 2 years since 2008 - stats agency

The amount of time that 65-year-olds in France can hope to live without health issues has increased by more than two years since 2008, French statistics agency DREES said on Thursday. As opposition parties contest a government plan to increase the retirement age by two years to 64 in order to prevent pension system deficits, DREES said that, in 2021, men aged 65 could hope to live another 11.3 years without health issues and women another 12.6 years.