Innovative Health Breakthroughs: Therapy Horses, Bird Flu Vaccines, and More

This summary of current health news highlights innovative therapies such as therapy horses helping neurology patients regain motor skills, government funding for Moderna's bird flu vaccine, Walmart's medical clinic sales, demands for lower weight-loss drug prices, EU approval for Sanofi's Dupixent for COPD, and more.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Therapy horses help neurology patients regain confidence, motor skills

In an area of Rome that once hosted horse races, four horses and two ponies move at a much slower pace to help neurological patients restore their movements and confidence. With handles on the side of their saddles, the animals at the San Giovanni Battista Hospital allow some people to take their first halting steps after trauma, strokes, degenerative diseases, as well as long COVID.

Walmart has held talks to sell its shuttered medical clinics, Fortune reports

Walmart has held talks with potential buyers to sell its already shuttered medical clinics, Fortune reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. In April, Walmart decided to close all 51 of its health clinics and shut its virtual healthcare operations, saying it could not see them as a sustainable business model to continue.

Bird flu concern prompts US to award Moderna $176 million for vaccine development

The U.S. government has awarded $176 million to Moderna to advance development of its bird flu vaccine, the company said on Tuesday, as concerns rise over a multi-state outbreak of H5N1 virus in dairy cows and infections of three dairy workers since March. Funds from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will be used to complete late-stage development and testing of a pre-pandemic mRNA-based vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza.

Novo Nordisk, Lilly must cut US prices of weight-loss drugs, Biden says

U.S. President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders called on Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to reduce the prices of their weight-loss and diabetes drugs, in a jointly authored opinion piece published in USA Today on Tuesday. Surging demand for Novo and Lilly's drugs, which have been shown to help patients lose as much as 20% of their weight, has propelled their shares to record highs, and led some analysts to forecast the market for those treatments reaching $150 billion by the early 2030s.

Factbox-Lilly follows Biogen-Eisai in securing US FDA approval for Alzheimer's drug

Eli Lilly's Kisunla secured standard approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Kisunla is now the second drug to get a traditional approval from the U.S. regulator for the brain-wasting disease after Biogen and Japan-based Eisai's Leqembi, marking a major milestone in a field that has witnessed multiple failures.

Eli Lilly Alzheimer's drug approved by US FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Eli Lilly's treatment for early Alzheimer's, making it the second therapy for slowing progression of the brain-wasting disease that will be available to U.S. patients. The approval for donanemab, to be sold under the brand name Kisunla, followed the recommendations of the agency's outside experts, who unanimously backed its use in patients with early Alzheimer's disease, saying the benefits of the drug outweighed its risks.

EU approves Sanofi's Dupixent for 'smoker's lungs'

Sanofi and partner Regeneron on Wednesday won European Union approval for wider use of their Dupixent injection in patients with a chronic lung disease, a rare case of the EU clearing a drug faster than the United States. The EU Commission approved Dupixent to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in patients that cannot be helped by standard inhaled drugs, Sanofi said in a statement, following a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) at the end of May.

US FDA to ban use of brominated vegetable oil in food, soda

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it would revoke the regulation that authorized the use of brominated vegetable oil in food items, effective Aug. 2, as it was no longer safe. BVO is a chemical ingredient containing bromine, which is found in fire retardants. Small quantities of BVO are used legally in some citrus-flavored drinks in the United States to keep the flavor evenly distributed.

GSK buys COVID, influenza vaccines from retrenching CureVac

British drugmaker GSK on Wednesday bought partner CureVac out of their alliance on influenza and COVID-19 vaccine development, boosting its messenger RNA credentials and extending the German biotech company's financial lifeline. GSK, one of the world's largest vaccine manufacturers, will take control of CureVac's leading experimental vaccines to fight infections, including seasonal flu and bird flu.

Pfizer v Moderna COVID vaccine patents battle set to continue after UK ruling

Pfizer and Moderna's legal battle over their rival COVID-19 vaccines looks set to continue after London's High Court gave a mixed ruling on two of Moderna's patents, likely prompting a flurry of appeals in the London leg of the litigation. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech sued Moderna in London in September 2022, seeking to revoke two patents held by Moderna, which hit back days later alleging its patents had been infringed.

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