US Court Holds Firm on Cancer Screenings, HIV Prevention Amid Legal Scrutiny

A U.S. appeals court upheld the mandate for health insurers to cover preventive care services including cancer screenings and HIV medication at no cost, despite future legal uncertainties. In other health news, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals acquires Eiger's experimental drug for low blood sugar, and obesity drugs from Novo and Lilly show promising results in weight loss and sleep apnea treatment.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Appeals court does not block US mandate to cover cancer screenings, HIV drugs

A U.S. appeals court on Friday refused to block a federal mandate requiring health insurers to cover preventive care services like cancer screenings and HIV-preventing medication at no extra cost to patients, but ruled against the government on a key legal issue that leaves the mandate's future in doubt. A unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a group of Christian businesses suing to challenge the mandate that claimed that the way services were chosen for coverage violates the U.S. Constitution.

Amylyx to buy bankrupt Eiger's experimental drug to treat low blood sugar

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the rights to bankrupt drugmaker Eiger BioPharmaceuticals' experimental drug for low blood sugar in a $35.1 million deal, Eiger said in a filing on Friday. Amylyx's acquisition of avexitide would mean a foray into drug development for metabolic diseases. The company had so far been a developer of drugs to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

Novo's Wegovy induces higher weight loss in women than men with same heart condition, study shows

Novo Nordisk's popular obesity drug Wegovy helped women with a common heart disease lose more weight than men who had the same condition, an analysis of study data published in a medical journal has shown. The trials included 1,145 patients and were focused on a condition known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, in which the muscles of the heart stiffen and draw in less blood.

Weight-loss drug Zepbound resolves sleep apnea in up to 52% of patients, Lilly says

Eli Lilly on Friday said its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound helped resolve moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in up to 52% of patients in two late-stage trials. U.S.-based Lilly and Danish rival Novo Nordisk are in a race to get their obesity drugs approved to treat other ailments. Novo's Wegovy was approved as a treatment for heart disease in March, while Lilly's own heart-disease trial for Zepbound is expected to conclude this year.

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