Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca's rare disease arm in $1 billion deal for Pfizer gene therapies; Norway, Finland battle rapid spread of bird flu and more

The study showed that the therapy was able to help clear all signs of tumor in patients compared to neo-adjuvant placebo plus chemotherapy. AstraZeneca's rare disease arm in $1 billion deal for Pfizer gene therapies AstraZeneca said on Friday its Alexion unit had agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's early-stage rare disease gene therapy portfolio for up to $1 billion, plus royalties on sales, as the British drugmaker bets on new genetic therapies.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia fight African swine fever, ask for help

An outbreak of the African swine fever has forced pig breeders in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia to cull thousands of pigs since June and is putting pressure on governments to compensate farmers for their losses. More than 13,000 pigs have been culled in one month in Bosnia and about 3,000 in Croatia, where pig breeders fear the final figure may be much higher if government measures also requiring the cull of healthy animals in affected farms are to be obeyed.

Merck's Keytruda meets main goal in late-stage breast cancer study

Merck said on Friday its blockbuster drug Keytruda, in combination with chemotherapy, met one of the main goals in a late-stage trial testing it in some breast cancer patients. The study showed that the therapy was able to help clear all signs of tumor in patients compared to neo-adjuvant placebo plus chemotherapy.

AstraZeneca's rare disease arm in $1 billion deal for Pfizer gene therapies

AstraZeneca said on Friday its Alexion unit had agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's early-stage rare disease gene therapy portfolio for up to $1 billion, plus royalties on sales, as the British drugmaker bets on new genetic therapies. The British company also said Sharon Barr, head of research and development at Alexion, would succeed Mene Pangalos, the long-time biopharmaceuticals head of research at AstraZeneca.

Biogen to buy Reata for $6.5 billion to bulk up rare disease portfolio

Biogen agreed to buy rare disease drugmaker Reata Pharmaceuticals for nearly $6.5 billion, the first large acquisition under new CEO Christopher Viehbacher as he seeks to return the drugmaker to growth. Viehbacher was hired in November to put Biogen back on a growth path after a series of missteps around the controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm hurt the company, which was already grappling with intense competition to its top-selling drugs.

US FDA approves second over-the-counter opioid overdose reversal drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the prescription-free sale of the second opioid overdose reversal drug, its manufacturer Harm Reduction Therapeutics said on Friday. The approval of the drug, called RiVive, will provide patients with another over-the-counter option in the United States, where drug-related overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 in 2021.

AstraZeneca Q2 results beat estimates; COVID vaccine sales dry up

AstraZeneca on Friday delivered forecast-beating profits and sales in the second quarter as a strong performance by its blockbuster cancer drugs offset the loss of COVID-19 vaccine sales. Shares in the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, which has a strong line-up of cancer, metabolic and rare disease drugs, rose as much as 4.8%, before settling back to 3.9% by 1052 GMT, making the stock the largest weighted gainer on the FTSE 100.

Drugmakers go under the skin, skirting early US Medicare price negotiations

Injectable versions of some widely-used cancer drugs including Johnson & Johnson's blockbuster multiple myeloma treatment Darzalex are likely to be excluded from new U.S. government price negotiations for years, drugmakers told Reuters, protecting billions in revenue. Whether the government agrees that adding an ingredient enabling infused drugs to be given by injection will allow them to be considered new medicines and significantly delay eligibility for price negotiations is being closely watched by Wall Street and the drugmakers.

AstraZeneca CEO says lung cancer drug trial data 'very encouraging'

AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on Friday the company is "very encouraged" by interim data from a key lung cancer drug trial, but he did not explain why the company had not declared results as "clinically meaningful". The drugmaker's shares fell by as much as 8% earlier this month after the company released interim data from the late-stage clinical trial called TROPION-Lung01 testing an experimental precision drug called datopotamab deruxtecan.

J&J effort to resolve talc lawsuits in bankruptcy fails a second time

A U.S. judge on Friday shot down Johnson & Johnson's second attempt to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products in bankruptcy, imperiling a proposed $8.9 billion settlement that would stop new lawsuits from being filed. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey, ruled that J&J company's second bankruptcy, like its first, must be dismissed because the company was not in "financial distress."

Norway, Finland battle rapid spread of bird flu

Norway and Finland face record outbreaks of bird flu this year which have killed thousands of seagulls and other species, put livestock at risk and restricted travel in some areas, officials said. Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has circulated throughout Europe in recent years, leading to a cull in May and June of millions of birds on French farms alone and affecting the supply of poultry meat and eggs.

(With inputs from agencies.)