Health News Roundup: Biden administration urges US Supreme Court to reverse abortion pill curbs; US signs up record 21.3 million people for 2024 Obamacare plans and more

One person also experienced hypoglycemia in 2023 after injecting a compounded version of Ozempic, said the organization, which represents 55 regional poison centers across the country and works with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to identify public health risks. France's Sanofi boosts rare disease business with about $2.2 billion Inhibrx deal French healthcare company Sanofi has agreed to buy U.S. biotech firm Inhibrx in a deal valued at up to $2.2 billion, bolstering its drug development portfolio with an experimental treatment for a rare genetic disease.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Gene therapy restores hearing in five of six deaf children in trial

An experimental gene therapy being developed by a Chinese company restored hearing in children with congenital deafness, researchers working on a clinical trial reported on Wednesday, adding to growing evidence of the efficacy of such treatments. Five of six young children with profound deafness experienced hearing recovery and improvements in speech recognition six months after treatment with the therapy from Refreshgene Therapeutics, according to the report published in The Lancet.

US FDA seeks 'boxed warning' for CAR-T cancer therapies

The U.S. health regulator on Monday asked a host of drugmakers, including Gilead Sciences, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis, to add a serious warning on the label of their cancer therapies that use CAR-T technology. The other cancer therapies include Bristol Myers Squibb's Breyanzi and its partnered therapy, Abecma, with 2seventy bio, J&J unit Janssen and Legend Biotech's Carvykti, Novartis AG's Kymriah, and Gilead unit Kite's Tecartus and Yescarta.

Exclusive-Suspected fake Ozempic linked to three US cases of hypoglycemia

Three people sought medical treatment for dangerously low blood sugar in the U.S. last year after taking suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic, America's Poison Centers told Reuters. One person also experienced hypoglycemia in 2023 after injecting a compounded version of Ozempic, said the organization, which represents 55 regional poison centers across the country and works with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to identify public health risks.

France's Sanofi boosts rare disease business with about $2.2 billion Inhibrx deal

French healthcare company Sanofi has agreed to buy U.S. biotech firm Inhibrx in a deal valued at up to $2.2 billion, bolstering its drug development portfolio with an experimental treatment for a rare genetic disease. The companies said the deal will give Sanofi access to Inhibrx's INBRX-101, currently in the second of three phases of clinical trials, while its other experimental drugs will be spun off into a separate company, with Sanofi retaining an 8% stake.

US FDA examined 22 cases of cancers in CAR-T probe -officials

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been looking into 22 cases of T-cell cancers that occurred after treatment with CAR-T, two top FDA officials said on Wednesday, days after asking drugmakers to add a serious warning on the label of their cancer therapies that use the CAR-T technology. In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the officials - Dr. Peter Marks and Dr. Nicole Verdun - said that secondary malignancies have been reported in conjunction with five of the six available CAR-T products and that the cancers included T-cell lymphoma, T-cell large granular lymphocytosis, peripheral T-cell lymphoma, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Abbott forecasts 2024 earnings largely below estimates, shares down

Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday forecast 2024 profit largely below Wall Street estimates despite meeting quarterly earnings expectations, sending the medical device maker's shares down 2.5% in premarket trading. Expectations around performance of medical device makers have increased over the last one month after health insurers flagged higher medical costs earlier this month as people, especially older adults, go back for medical procedures they had delayed during the pandemic.

US signs up record 21.3 million people for 2024 Obamacare plans

A record 21.3 million Americans have so far enrolled for coverage under Obamacare health insurance for 2024, a 31% jump over the year earlier, and the highest since its inception, the U.S. government said on Wednesday. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed in 2010 and was former U.S. President Barack Obama's signature piece of domestic legislation which helps low and middle-income Americans who do not have access to affordable health insurance coverage through an employer.

Biden administration urges US Supreme Court to reverse abortion pill curbs

A 2023 judicial decision that would curb access to the abortion pill threatens to disrupt the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and harm the American healthcare system, President Joe Biden's administration told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, urging the justices to reverse the ruling. The Justice Department filed a written brief outlining its main arguments to preserve broad access to the pill, called mifepristone, in its appeal of an August decision by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that barred telemedicine prescriptions and shipments by mail of the drug.

Lilly's Mounjaro dose in limited availability in US through next month

A dose of Eli Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro has limited availability through February 2024, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website, due to an increase in demand.

The health regulator's website showed the 12.5 milligram dose of the injection will be available in limited amounts, while other doses of Mounjaro are available.

Walgreens to explore sale of Shields Health for over $4 billion - Bloomberg News

Walgreens Boots Alliance is exploring a sale of specialty pharmacy company Shields Health Solutions, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The sale could be valued at more than $4 billion, the report added.