Health News Roundup: Pfizer agrees to pay $93 million to settle Lipitor antitrust lawsuit; Ukraine legalises cannabis for medical use and more

Attorneys for Lipitor purchasers including Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc and Puerto Rico's Drogueria Betances LLC disclosed the agreement in a filing on Wednesday in U.S. court in Trenton, New Jersey. Alvotech settles with J&J to launch Stelara biosimilar in Europe, Canada Alvotech said on Thursday it has reached settlement agreements with Johnson & Johnson for launching a biosimilar of the pharmaceutical giant's blockbuster psoriasis drug Stelara in Japan, Canada and Europe this year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Cancer test firm Freenome raises $254 million in fresh funding

Blood test developer Freenome said on Thursday it has raised $254 million in a new funding round led by Swiss drugmaker Roche, to develop tests that can potentially detect multiple early-stage cancers. The company did not disclose the valuation at which the funds were raised.

Britain sees launch of Lilly's weight-loss drug Mounjaro

Eli Lilly's Mounjaro is being launched in Britain this week, two pharmacy companies said on Wednesday, making the UK the fourth European country to introduce the highly-anticipated obesity drug. British pharmacy and beauty chain Superdrug said on Wednesday that eligible private patients could seek prescriptions for Mounjaro, also approved for diabetes, through its Online Doctor service from Thursday.

Telemedicine abortion is as safe, effective as in-person care, US study finds

Abortion pills sent to pregnant women after video call or text message consultations are as safe and effective as in-person care, according to a large study from the United States, where access to abortion has been markedly curtailed in recent years. Since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2022 to eliminate the nationwide right to abortion, at least 14 U.S. states have put in place outright abortion bans while many others prohibit abortion after a certain duration of pregnancy.

GSK completes acquisition of Aiolos Bio for up to $1.4 billion

GSK said on Thursday it had completed the acquisition of Aiolos Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on respiratory and inflammatory conditions. GSK will pay $1 billion upfront and up to $400 million in success-based milestone payments.

Ukraine legalises cannabis for medical use

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed into law a bill legalising the medical use of cannabis, a parliamentary database showed on Thursday. More than 6 million people, including cancer patients, civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder, and wounded soldiers need medicine containing cannabis, according to a lawmaker.

Pfizer agrees to pay $93 million to settle Lipitor antitrust lawsuit

Pfizer has agreed to pay $93 million to settle antitrust claims by wholesale drug distributors that accused it of conspiring with India's Ranbaxy Laboratories to delay sales of less expensive, generic versions of the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Attorneys for Lipitor purchasers including Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc and Puerto Rico's Drogueria Betances LLC disclosed the agreement in a filing on Wednesday in U.S. court in Trenton, New Jersey.

Alvotech settles with J&J to launch Stelara biosimilar in Europe, Canada

Alvotech said on Thursday it has reached settlement agreements with Johnson & Johnson for launching a biosimilar of the pharmaceutical giant's blockbuster psoriasis drug Stelara in Japan, Canada and Europe this year. The deals allow Alvotech's biosimilar, or near copies of a biological drug, to enter the Canadian market in the first quarter of this year and Japan in May. Entry to the first European markets is expected after late July.

Gaza doctors measure children for malnutrition

Medical workers held strips of plastic around the upper arms of small children in a Rafah tent, measuring the circumferences of their arms for signs of wasting flesh as a hunger crisis hits Gaza after months of Israel's military campaign there. One small girl of two and a half years had tiny arms, the skin already starting to hang loose after her weight plummeted from 11kg before the conflict to just 7kg now, said her mother Hana Tabash.

US FDA classifies Philips' recall of imaging machines as most serious

The U.S. FDA said on Thursday it has classified a recall of Philips' medical imaging machines as most serious due to the risk of a detector in some devices unexpectedly falling on patients during scans. Philips' recall of BrightView Imaging Systems, used for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scan, is to correct the faulty component and not a product removal, the health regulator said.

Exclusive-Wegovy fuels sharp rise in use of weight-loss drugs for US youth

A small but rapidly growing number of U.S. adolescents began treatment with Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy last year, a powerful new tool to address record rates of pediatric obesity, according to data shared exclusively with Reuters. In the first 10 months of 2023, 1,268 children ages 12 to 17 with an obesity diagnosis started taking Wegovy, according to U.S. insurance claims data compiled by health technology company Komodo Health.

(With inputs from agencies.)