Health News Roundup: BioNTech predicts return to revenue growth in 2025; US FDA declines to approve Astellas' gastric cancer drug and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Novo CEO expects patients to stay on Wegovy longer than older weight loss drugs Novo Nordisk's CEO said on Tuesday he expects patients will stick with the company's popular obesity drug Wegovy for far longer than those using older treatments.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novo CEO expects patients to stay on Wegovy longer than older weight loss drugs

Novo Nordisk's CEO said on Tuesday he expects patients will stick with the company's popular obesity drug Wegovy for far longer than those using older treatments. "We know from all medical interventions, stay time is not like a 100%... but I think we will see a significantly higher stay time than what we have seen so far on obesity treatment," said Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen at the JPMorgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco.

Philippines bans poultry imports from Belgium, France to halt bird flu spread

The Philippines' department of agriculture said on Tuesday it has imposed an indefinite ban on imports of poultry and related products, including wild birds, from Belgium and France following a bird flu outbreak there. "We're doing this to protect the health of our local poultry population as well as poultry workers and consumers since H5N1 is a virus that can be transmitted to humans by infected animals," Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said in a statement.

Gotham City accounting queries wipe $3 billion off Grifols value

Shares in Grifols fell by 30% on Tuesday, wiping nearly $3 billion off its market value, after hedge fund Gotham City Research questioned its accounting, prompting the Spanish drugmaker to "categorically" deny any wrongdoing. Gotham questioned Grifols' reported debt and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), and leverage ratio of 6.7 times. It said the leverage ratio is close to 10 to 13 times EBITDA.

LatAm healthcare firm Auna files U.S. public offering

Auna, a healthcare provider operating in three Latin American countries, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The company, founded in Peru in 1989, plans to issue Class A shares in the offering, but it did not disclose the planned size of the offering nor how much it aims to raise.

GSK boosts respiratory portfolio with $1.4 billion Aiolos Bio deal

GSK on Tuesday said it would acquire asthma drug maker Aiolos Bio in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion, as the British drugmaker boosts its growing respiratory diseases portfolio. Founded in 2023, Aiolos is focused on developing therapies for respiratory and inflammatory conditions. It is currently developing 'AIO-001', a treatment for asthma which is ready to enter mid-stage clinical trials.

BioNTech predicts return to revenue growth in 2025

BioNTech said on Tuesday it expects to return to revenue growth in 2025 when the ongoing decline in its COVID-19 vaccine business would bottom out, and that it would invest to scale up its oncology business thereafter. The German biotech firm, which works with Pfizer on COVID shots, predicted total revenue of about 3 billion euros ($3.28 billion) for 2024, down from revenue of about 4 billion to 5 billion euros it had targeted for 2023.

Salmonella tests negative at Mexico cantaloupe plant amid outbreak -officials

Tests were negative for traces of salmonella at a cantaloupe-processing plant in Mexico amid an investigation into a deadly outbreak in the United States and Canada, Mexico said on Tuesday. Mexican health officials in December ordered the temporary closure of the plant in the northern state of Sonora and took samples from surfaces and water.

Sweden reports bird flu outbreak in southern part of country -WOAH

Sweden has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus on a farm in the southern part of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday, as the disease spreads in Europe. The virus killed 1,316 birds, with the rest of the 47,938-strong flock slaughtered, the WOAH said, citing a report from the Swedish authorities.

China approves Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi by Eisai and Biogen

Eisai and Biogen said on Tuesday that their Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi had won approval in China, the third country after the United States and Japan. The two companies are preparing to launch the drug in the second quarter of Eisai's 2024/25 business year starting in April.

US FDA declines to approve Astellas' gastric cancer drug

Japan's Astellas Pharma said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined to approve its experimental drug to treat a type of gastric cancer, citing issues related to a third-party manufacturer. The FDA has not raised any concerns related to the clinical data, and is not requesting additional clinical studies, Astellas said.

(With inputs from agencies.)