Health News Roundup: GlaxoSmithKline sues Pfizer and BioNTech over Covid-19 vaccine technology; Gilead posts quarterly loss, revenue rises 5% and more

For full-year 2024, Gilead said it still expects product sales of $27.1 billion to $27.5 billion, but lowered its earnings outlook to include the recent charge as well as incremental expenses related to the CymaBay deal. Health conglomerate Kaiser notifies millions of a data breach U.S. health conglomerate Kaiser is notifying millions of its members of a data breach earlier this month, it reported in a notice posted on Thursday.

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 surging sales of cancer drug Keytruda

Merck & Co on Thursday raised its annual profit and revenue forecasts on the back of double-digit growth for its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, the world's top selling prescription medicine. The New Jersey-based drugmaker said it expected annual earnings of $8.53 to $8.65 per share, up from its previous forecast of $8.44 to $8.59. Analysts had estimated earnings of $8.56 per share, below the midpoint of the new range.

GlaxoSmithKline sues Pfizer and BioNTech over Covid-19 vaccine technology

GlaxoSmithKline sued Pfizer and BioNTech in Delaware federal court on Thursday, accusing them of infringing GSK patents related to messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in the companies' blockbuster COVID-19 vaccines. GSK said in the lawsuit that Pfizer and BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccines violate the company's patent rights in mRNA-vaccine innovations developed "more than a decade before" the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cigna to offer Humira rivals with $0 copay at specialty pharmacy

Cigna plans to make close copies of AbbVie's blockbuster arthritis drug Humira available with no out-of-pocket payment to eligible patients in the U.S. using its specialty pharmacy beginning in June, the health insurer said on Thursday. Cigna said it will stock high- and low-concentration biosimilar versions of Humira from drugmakers including Boehringer Ingelheim, Teva and Alvotech at its Accredo pharmacy.

West Africa's Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone launch malaria vaccination

Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone launched large-scale malaria vaccine programmes on Thursday under an Africa-focused initiative that hopes to save tens of thousands of children's lives per year across the continent. The three West African countries are the latest to participate after successful rollouts of routine malaria immunization for children in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, the global vaccine alliance GAVI said in a statement.

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.

US FDA sends warning letter to Cardinal Health for marketing unapproved devices

The U.S. health regulator has sent a warning letter to Cardinal Health after an inspection of its facility in Illinois found the company was marketing and distributing unapproved devices made by a Chinese manufacturer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023 recommended against the use of some China-made syringes as it investigated reports of leaks, breakages and other quality problems with such products and last month expanded the guidance.

Gilead posts quarterly loss, revenue rises 5%

Gilead Sciences reported a first-quarter loss on Thursday after taking a $3.9 billion charge for its recent acquisition of liver drug developer CymaBay Therapeutics, while revenue rose 5% on higher HIV, oncology and liver disease treatment sales. For full-year 2024, Gilead said it still expects product sales of $27.1 billion to $27.5 billion, but lowered its earnings outlook to include the recent charge as well as incremental expenses related to the CymaBay deal.

Health conglomerate Kaiser notifies millions of a data breach

U.S. health conglomerate Kaiser is notifying millions of its members of a data breach earlier this month, it reported in a notice posted on Thursday. The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan confirmed that 13.4 million residents had their information taken in a data breach, as per a legally required notice filed with the U.S. government on April 12 and reported on Thursday.

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.

(With inputs from agencies.)