Health News Roundup: US FDA approves Pfizer's blood cancer therapy; UK's ITV invests in pain relief brand Flarin and more

Tentarix will receive upfront payments and an equity investment totaling $66 million from Gilead, which has the option to buy up to three of the drug developer's units for $80 million each, the companies said. New Covid vaccines are on the way as 'Eris' variant rises A new COVID vaccine is due out next month, but health experts and analysts say it is likely to be coolly received even as hospitalizations from "Eris", a variant of the Omicron form of the coronavirus, rise around the country.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China's fertility rate drops to record low 1.09 in 2022- state media

China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on Tuesday, a figure likely to rattle authorities as they try to boost the country's declining number of new births. The state-backed Daily said the figure from China's Population and Development Research Center put it as having the lowest fertility level among countries with a population of more than 100 million.

UK's ITV invests in pain relief brand Flarin

ITV on Tuesday said it had agreed to invest in pain relief brand Flarin Holdings Ltd, making it the British broadcaster's first consumer healthcare investment. The company has agreed to subscribe for 2 million pounds ($2.55 million) worth of shares in Flarin, with an option to subscribe for two more tranches of 1.5 million pounds each.

US FDA approves Pfizer's blood cancer therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted accelerated approval to Pfizer's therapy for treating patients with a type of blood cancer that is difficult to treat, the company said. The health regulator's decision allows use of the therapy, branded as Elrexfio, in patients with multiple myeloma that is hard to treat or has come back after receiving four or more prior lines of certain classes of treatments.

Gilead ties up with Tentarix for cancer, inflammatory disease therapies

Gilead Sciences said on Tuesday it had entered into an agreement with privately held Tentarix Biotherapeutics to develop therapies for cancer and inflammatory diseases. Tentarix will receive upfront payments and an equity investment totaling $66 million from Gilead, which has the option to buy up to three of the drug developer's units for $80 million each, the companies said.

New Covid vaccines are on the way as 'Eris' variant rises

A new COVID vaccine is due out next month, but health experts and analysts say it is likely to be coolly received even as hospitalizations from "Eris", a variant of the Omicron form of the coronavirus, rise around the country. Some public health experts hope that Americans will welcome the new shot as they would a flu jab. But demand for the vaccine has dropped sharply since 2021 when it first became available and more than 240 million people in the U.S., or 73% of the population, received at least one shot.

Drug distributor Cardinal sees sales boost from weight-loss drugs in 2024

Drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc on Tuesday raised fiscal 2024 expectations for sales at its pharmaceutical unit, banking on growing demand for newer weight-loss drugs, including GLP-1 treatments. GLP-1s, which have seen overwhelming demand in the United States, are a class of drugs that help regulate blood sugar, slow the rate at which the stomach empties of food and decrease appetite by mimicking a gut hormone.

Amazon Pharmacy automates discounts to help insulin patients get pledged prices

Amazon.com said on Tuesday its online pharmacy will automatically apply manufacturer-sponsored coupons to more than 15 insulin and diabetes medicines to help patients access discounts pledged by the drug industry. With the new program, patients using Amazon Pharmacy will no longer have to search for and manually enter coupons from the three largest insulin makers, Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi, to lower the cost of their insulin to as little as $35 for a month's supply, the company said.

What is 'Eris', the new Covid variant?

COVID infections and hospitalizations are on the rise in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Health officials are pointing at the EG.5 "Eris" coronavirus, a subvariant of the Omicron lineage that originally emerged November of 2021. WHAT IS THE NEW 'ERIS' VARIANT?

Walgreens must face US, Virginia Medicaid fraud lawsuit over hepatitis C drugs

A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit in which the United States and Virginia accused Walgreens Boots Alliance of defrauding Virginia's Medicaid program by falsely representing that some patients were eligible for expensive hepatitis C drugs. In a 3-0 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, cleared the way for the nation's largest pharmacy chain to face claims it violated the federal False Claims Act and Virginia state law.

Galecto scraps lung disease treatment after trial failure, shares tank

Galecto will stop developing its therapy for a disease that causes lung scarring after it failed to meet the main goal of a mid-stage study, the drug developer said on Tuesday, sending its shares tumbling 67%. The stock opened at 77 cents, falling below the $1 mark for the first time since listing in October 2020. The company had a market value of roughly $64 million, through Monday's close.

(With inputs from agencies.)