Health Sector Buzz: Breakthroughs and Challenges

Recent health news highlights include Geron's FDA approval for a blood disorder drug, Pfizer's Paxlovid ineffectiveness for long COVID, U.S. recommendation for JN.1 COVID variant vaccines, Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug safety, Kroger's updated weight management program, potential bird flu research in cows, and Novo Nordisk facing generic competition in China.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Geron surges after winning first US FDA approval for blood disorder drug

Shares of Geron surged more than 20% on Friday, a day after the company gained its first approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its blood disorder drug. The health regulator's nod allows the injectable drug, branded as Rytelo, to be used for treating transfusion-dependent anemia in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of blood cancers.

COVID shots should target JN.1 variant in fall 2024 campaign, US FDA says

The U.S. health regulator on Friday advised COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers that new shots for the fall 2024 campaign should target the JN.1 variant that was dominant earlier this year. The Food and Drug Administration's advisory is in line with European and World Health Organization recommendations and comes after the agency's advisers on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed the targeting of the older JN.1 variant over the newer KP.2 strain.

Pfizer's Paxlovid fails as 15-day treatment for long COVID, study finds

A 15-day course of Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid did not relieve symptoms of long COVID, according a study by Stanford University researchers. Currently, there are no proven treatments specifically for long COVID in which a host of symptoms can last for many months after initial coronavirus infection.

US FDA staff raise no major concerns about Eli Lilly Alzheimer's drug

An FDA analysis of trial data for Eli Lilly's experimental Alzheimer's drug donanemab released on Thursday revealed no red flags, but raised questions about safety of the treatment for patients with early-stage disease. The drug is a potential rival to Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi, which won approval last July.

Kroger Health revamps weight management program to include GLP-1 drugs

Kroger Health, the arm of grocer Kroger that runs pharmacies and clinics across the U.S., said on Friday it had revamped its weight management program to allow patients to explore medical treatments, including access to GLP-1s such as Wegovy, Zepbound and others. Kroger joins retail peer Costco Wholesale in offering access to the vastly popular GLP-1 agonists, a class of highly effective diabetes and obesity drugs.

US to research possible respiratory spread of bird flu in cows

U.S. federal and state agencies are planning research into potential respiratory spread of bird flu among dairy cattle, according to a Reuters interview with Michigan state agriculture and public health officials. Scientists and government officials hope the research will guide efforts to contain the virus and reduce exposure to humans. Respiratory spread could give the virus more opportunity to evolve, they said.

Mexico says bird flu patient died of chronic disease, not virus

A man who contracted bird flu in Mexico died due to chronic diseases and not the virus, Mexico's health ministry said on Friday. Earlier this week, the World Health Organization reported the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with A(H5N2) avian influenza in Mexico.

Novo Nordisk braces for generic challenge to Ozempic, Wegovy in China

Novo Nordisk is facing the prospect of intensifying competition in the promising Chinese market where drugmakers are developing at least 15 generic versions of its diabetes drug Ozempic and weight loss treatment Wegovy, clinical trial records showed. The Danish drugmaker has high hopes that demand for its blockbuster drugs will surge in China, which is estimated to have the world's highest number of people who are overweight or obese.

WHO says bird flu case in Australia followed travel to Kolkata, India

The World Health Organization on Friday said the child with H5N1 bird flu reported by Australia last month had traveled to Kolkata, India, and the family said they did not have any known exposure to infected people or animals while there. The WHO said on Friday that the child, Australia's first case of H5N1 in a person, had traveled to Kolkata from Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 and returned to Australia on March 1.

AbbVie's tight grip on Humira market raises concerns about biosimilars

AbbVie's top-selling arthritis drug Humira has held onto more than 80% of patients after facing nine lower-priced rivals in the U.S. in the last year, raising questions about whether the market for prescription biosimilars can survive in its current form, drug pricing experts and analysts say. Humira, which lists for almost $7,000 a month, is the first top-selling drug to compete with a slew of biosimilars, which are close but not exact copies of branded biologic medicines.

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