Health News Roundup: Mask-free Monday comes to Japan as government eases COVID guidelines; Sanofi hones in on type 1 diabetes in $2.9 billion Provention Bio deal and more

The deal, Pfizer's biggest in a string of acquisitions after a once-in-a-lifetime cash windfall from its COVID-19 vaccine and pill, will add four approved cancer therapies with combined sales of nearly $2 billion in 2022. U.S. FDA places Mersana's cancer drug trial on hold following death Mersana Therapeutics Inc said on Monday the U.S. drug regulator had placed on hold an early-stage trial testing its experimental cancer drug after the death of a participant.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Mask-free Monday comes to Japan as government eases COVID guidelines

The smiles and screams at Tokyo Disneyland may be more obvious on Monday as the amusement park and much of Japan relaxes face mask norms that have defined the three-year COVID-19 pandemic. Disney park operator Oriental Land Co, East Japan Railway Co and cinema operator Toho Co are among the major companies allowing patrons to go maskless starting Monday, based on revised government guidance announced last month.

Sanofi hones in on type 1 diabetes in $2.9 billion Provention Bio deal

France's Sanofi has agreed to acquire Provention Bio for $2.9 billion to bolster its work on type 1 diabetes therapy and to strengthen its drug pipeline following development setbacks. The deal would give the French drugmaker full ownership of the approved Tzield injection to delay progression of type 1 diabetes, which usually appears during childhood or adolescence, affecting about 65,000 people every year, it said in a statement.

Finding COVID-19's origins is a moral imperative - WHO's Tedros

Discovering the origins of COVID-19 is a moral imperative and all hypotheses must be explored, the head of the World Health Organization said, in the clearest indication yet that the U.N. body remains committed to finding how the virus arose. A U.S. agency was reported by the Wall Street Journal to have assessed the pandemic had likely been caused by an unintended Chinese laboratory leak, raising pressure on the WHO to come up with answers. Beijing denies the assessment which could soon become public after the U.S. House of Representatives voted this week to declassify it.

Bristol Myers, Pfizer, AbbVie drugs likely to face U.S. price negotiation

The blood thinner Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer's breast cancer drug Ibrance and AbbVie's leukemia treatment Imbruvica are likely to be among 10 big-selling medicines subject to U.S. price negotiations for 2026, according to five Wall Street and academic analyses shared with Reuters.

Last year Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), giving the U.S. government power to start the first price negotiations over prescription drugs for its Medicare health program covering more than 60 million Americans, most over age 65.

Pfizer signs $43 billion Seagen deal in cancer drug push

Pfizer Inc on Monday struck a roughly $43 billion deal for Seagen Inc to bulk up its cancer treatments portfolio, as the drugmaker braces for a steep fall in COVID-19 product sales and loss of exclusivity for some top sellers. The deal, Pfizer's biggest in a string of acquisitions after a once-in-a-lifetime cash windfall from its COVID-19 vaccine and pill, will add four approved cancer therapies with combined sales of nearly $2 billion in 2022.

U.S. FDA places Mersana's cancer drug trial on hold following death

Mersana Therapeutics Inc said on Monday the U.S. drug regulator had placed on hold an early-stage trial testing its experimental cancer drug after the death of a participant. The death was of a patient enrolled at the initial dose level in the dose escalation portion, the company said.