Health News Roundup: Novo hires Thermo Fisher as second manufacturer for Wegovy weight-loss drug -source; Cigna removes pre-authorization requirement for 25% of medical services and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novo hires Thermo Fisher as second manufacturer for Wegovy weight-loss drug -source

Novo Nordisk has hired Thermo Fisher as its second contract manufacturer for its hugely popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Thermo is doing the filling of the Wegovy injection pens at its factory in Greenville, North Carolina, the source said, declining to be named because the information is confidential.

Cigna removes pre-authorization requirement for 25% of medical services

Health insurer Cigna Group said on Thursday it would remove the use of prior authorization or paperwork required to get approval for insurance coverage for 25% of medical services.

Health insurers have come under pressure as physicians claim that the pre-authorization requirements for some procedures are restrictive and increases their paperwork.

High demand, low supplies for Novo's weight-loss drug launch in Germany

Supplies of Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss drug Wegovy are limited in Germany less than a month after its launch in Europe's largest drug market, major drug distributors and doctors told Reuters. The volumes of the weekly injection that the Danish drugmaker has delivered to the country so far have fallen short of strong demand, the wholesalers said.

J&J's Janssen to close part of its vaccine division -Telegraaf

Johnson & Johnson's Janssen division, which helped to develop its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, will close much of its vaccine research and development operations in the Netherlands, newspaper De Telegraaf reported. In an emailed response on Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson confirmed plans to exit some of its vaccine research and development programmes, which it said it had initially disclosed in its 2023 second-quarter results.

US FDA panel votes against use of Medtronic's blood pressure treatment device

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) independent experts on Wednesday narrowly voted against recommending the approval of Medtronic's blood pressure treatment device, saying risks tied to using it do not outweigh the benefits. The same panel on Tuesday voted in favor of rival ReCor's device for use in a surgery called renal denervation in patients whose high blood pressure cannot be controlled by drugs.

US FDA taps EPA veteran James Jones to oversee food division after formula crisis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has selected James "Jim" Jones, a 30-year veteran of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to direct its food division as part of a broader reorganization, the agency said on Wednesday. The FDA in January said it would reorganize its food program after being slammed for its slow response to issues at an infant formula plant that resulted in an outbreak of illness and a national formula shortage.

US CDC says new COVID lineage could cause infections in vaccinated individuals

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday the new BA.2.86 lineage of coronavirus may be more capable than older variants in causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received vaccines. CDC said it was too soon to know whether this might cause more severe illness compared with previous variants.

US says stolen COVID relief funds seized so far top $1.4 billion

The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it has seized over $1.4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that criminals had stolen, and charged over 3,000 defendants with crimes in federal districts across the country. The Justice Department disclosed the results of a nationwide enforcement action to combat coronavirus fraud, including federal criminal charges against 371 defendants for offenses related to over $836 million in alleged COVID fraud.

Indian Immunologicals targets dengue vaccine launch by Jan 2026

Vaccine manufacturer Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) expects to commercially launch its dengue fever vaccine by early 2026, a top executive said, as the race to develop the country's first such vaccine heats up. Dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, has over the last few years become a major public health concern in India, with 31,464 dengue cases and 36 related deaths reported between January and July 31, 2023.

AstraZeneca facing two London lawsuits over COVID-19 vaccines

AstraZeneca is facing two London lawsuits, including one from the husband of a woman who died after receiving the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's COVID-19 vaccine, in the first of potentially dozens of cases brought in England. Britain was the first country to roll out the at-cost AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in early 2021, although it later restricted the use of it among under 40s due to the small risk of blood clots.