Reuters Health News Summary

The market for RSV vaccines could exceed $10 billion by 2030, according to analysts. Verrica's drug gets US nod as first treatment for a type of skin infection The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc's treatment of a viral skin infection in adults and children aged 2 years and above, the company said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Intuitive says bariatric surgeries shrink as obesity drugs lift off

The rising popularity of highly-effective obesity drugs is weighing on demand for robot-assisted bariatric surgeries, top surgical robots maker Intuitive Surgical said late on Thursday. The company's shares fell 4.5% to $332.2 in premarket trading on Friday, with at least five analysts attributing the drop to lower-than-expected growth in procedures that use its devices.

Tornado damage at Pfizer N.C. plant was mostly at warehouse, CEO says

Most of the tornado damage at Pfizer Inc's Rocky Mount, North Carolina plant was to the warehouse and not manufacturing facilities, CEO Albert Bourla said on Friday, easing concerns about long-term drug shortages from the plant. The tornado that struck the site on Wednesday completely destroyed the warehouse, but production facilities there do not seem to have suffered major damage.

Gilead scraps late-stage trial of blood cancer treatment

Gilead Sciences Inc said on Friday it was stopping a late-stage trial of its blood cancer combination treatment following an analysis that showed it would not be effective. The company was studying antibody magrolimab in combination with a type of chemotherapy called azacitidine for the treatment of patients with a higher risk of Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a rare group of bone marrow failure disorders.

WHO warns of dengue risk as global warming pushes cases near historic highs

The World Health Organization warned on Friday that cases of dengue fever could reach close to record highs this year, partly due to global warming benefiting mosquitoes that spread it. Dengue rates are rising globally, with reported cases since 2000 up eight-fold to 4.2 million in 2022, WHO said.

Exclusive-At-home health test maker Thorne explores sale -sources

Thorne HealthTech Inc, a provider of at-home health tests and nutritional supplements, is exploring a sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based company is working with investment bank CG Sawaya Partners as it fields interest from other companies and private equity firms, the sources said.

U.S. FDA denies petition on chemicals used in food packaging

The U.S. health regulator on Friday denied a petition urging the agency to reconsider its initial denial on a petition seeking a ban of some chemicals used in plastic for food packaging in May last year. The citizen petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sought a ban on the use of eight ortho-phthalates and revocation of the prior sanctioned uses for five ortho-phthalates in food based on alleged safety concerns.

Bavarian Nordic ends RSV vaccine programme after poor trial results

Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic said on Saturday it was ending its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine programme as its Phase 3 clinical trial did not meet all the primary goals of preventing lower respiratory tract disease. RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can also lead to serious illness and hospitalisation. The market for RSV vaccines could exceed $10 billion by 2030, according to analysts.

Verrica's drug gets US nod as first treatment for a type of skin infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc's treatment of a viral skin infection in adults and children aged 2 years and above, the company said on Friday. The green light for Verrica's drug, Ycanth, makes it the first approved treatment for viral skin disease molluscum contagiosum in the United States.

Gambia 'advanced' in exploring legal action over toxic Indian cough syrup

Gambia's government is "far advanced" in exploring avenues for potential legal action against Indian drugmaker Maiden Pharmaceuticals and a local distributor over toxic cough syrups believed to have killed dozens of children, it said on Friday. At least 70 children in Gambia, most under 5 years old, died from acute kidney injury last year. A government task force which investigated the deaths found they were "a direct result" of contaminated cough and cold syrups imported from India.

Pfizer to end license deal with Syros for blood disorder therapies

Syros Pharmaceuticals said on Friday Pfizer will terminate a license deal between the companies related to the development of novel therapies for two blood disorders. Shares of Syros were down 5.7% in trading after the bell.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)