Reuters Health News Summary

Britain's Office for National Statistics said 3.3% of people surveyed between Feb. 6 and March 7 reported having COVID symptoms that had lasted more than four weeks since an initial infection and were not explained by another medical condition. Labcorp beats quarterly estimates on strong testing demand Labcorp beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit on Thursday, as growing demand for specialty tests boosted sales at its diagnostics business.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Regeneron to collaborate on gene editing therapies with Doudna-founded Mammoth

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Mammoth Biosciences will collaborate to research, develop and commercialize gene editing therapies for multiple diseases, the companies said on Thursday.

Mammoth's CRISPR-based gene editing platform and Regeneron's delivery technologies will be used to create disease-modifying medicines that can be delivered to tissues beyond the liver.

Merck raises 2024 profit forecast on strong sales of cancer drug Keytruda

Merck & Co on Thursday raised its annual profit and revenue forecasts on the back of strong sales for its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, sending the company's shares up more than 2% before the bell. Keytruda, the world's top selling drug in 2023, has been Merck's key revenue driver over the past few years and is expected to top $30 billion in sales by 2026 before losing exclusivity toward the end of the decade.

Arizona House lawmakers vote to repeal 1864 abortion ban

Lawmakers in Arizona's House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to repeal an 1864 ban on abortion that could still go into effect within weeks if not also knocked down by the Senate. House lawmakers voted 32-28 to repeal the law, which provides no exceptions for abortions even in cases of rape or incest. Three Republicans crossed party lines to join all 29 Democrats in voting for the repeal.

UAE reports illness linked to contaminated water after floods

A small number of people in the United Arab Emirates have shown symptoms associated with contaminated water after heavy rains and floods, the health ministry said. The statement, carried by the state news agency late on Wednesday, did not say exactly how many people had been affected or what exactly they were treated for.

AstraZeneca leaps after smashing first-quarter forecasts

AstraZeneca sailed past market expectations for quarterly revenue and profit on Thursday, boosted by demand for its blockbuster drugs and steady sales from partnered medicines and sending its shares up over 5%. Oncology, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's top business, delivered a 26% jump in first-quarter sales to $5.12 billion.

Two million Britons suffer long COVID symptoms, survey shows

Two million people across England and Scotland are still suffering from long COVID symptoms, of whom 381,000 have had their day-to-day activities limited a lot, according to an official study published on Thursday. Britain's Office for National Statistics said 3.3% of people surveyed between Feb. 6 and March 7 reported having COVID symptoms that had lasted more than four weeks since an initial infection and were not explained by another medical condition.

Labcorp beats quarterly estimates on strong testing demand

Labcorp beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit on Thursday, as growing demand for specialty tests boosted sales at its diagnostics business. Specialty testing, which includes cancer and prenatal tests, have been growing at an accelerated pace, along with a steady demand for routine tests, CEO Adam Schechter told Reuters. More people in the United States, where Labcorp has more than 2000 patient service centers, are catching up on medical procedures and routine check-ups that were deferred due to pandemic-driven restrictions.

US births retreat after pandemic-era growth

The number of births in the United States fell by 2% in 2023 from the previous year, driven in part by a marked birth rate decline among older teenagers and women aged 20-24, according to a report from the CDC released on Thursday. The number of births in the U.S. fell to 3,591,328 in 2023 from 3,667,758 the year prior, according to provisional National Centers for Health Statistics (NCHS) data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scholz promises support for pharma sector in Germany as Merck invests

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was committed to supporting the pharmaceuticals sector with tax advantages for research and cutting red tape for trials at a ceremony with Merck, which is investing 1.5 billion euros ($1.61 billion) in Germany. The drugmaker plans to use its new life sciences Advanced Research Centre in the western city of Darmstadt, which it is spending 300 million euros on, to develop services and digital platforms to help scientists work more effectively.

AbbVie's skin disease drug found to be more effective than Regeneron's Dupixent in study

AbbVie said on Thursday its drug, Rinvoq, for treating a type of inflammatory skin condition was found to be more effective than Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi's Dupixent in a late-stage head-to-head study. Rinvoq helped 19.9% of patients simultaneously achieve near-complete skin clearance with a no-to-little itch after 16 weeks of treatment, compared with 8.9% of patients treated with Dupixent, the study showed.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)