Health Sector in Turmoil: Novo Nordisk Reprimanded, Roche Halts Cancer Trial, and More

Novo Nordisk was reprimanded in the UK for not disclosing payments to healthcare sectors. Roche halted a lung cancer immunotherapy trial after underwhelming results. UK's new health secretary will negotiate with junior doctors after strikes. Cear discussions about risks and benefits of Wegovy and Ozempic continue. Carlyle may acquire Baxter's kidney care spinoff.

In an unfolding saga within the health sector, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has been reprimanded by UK regulators for failing to disclose fees and expenses amounting to approximately 7.8 million pounds. The disclosures, covering 2020 to 2022, involved over 150 different entities including fees to health professionals and sponsorships to healthcare organizations.

Meanwhile, in a significant setback, Roche has decided to terminate its lung cancer trial for the new immunotherapy, tiragolumab. The trial, named SKYSCRAPER-06, failed to show any advantage over the existing treatment Keytruda from Merck & Co., raising questions over Roche's drug candidate.

Additionally, Britain's new health secretary, Wes Streeting, announced plans to hold talks with junior doctors next week to resolve the ongoing strike. This comes amid an industrial action by the British Medical Association, which represents 50,000 junior doctors.

Studies have raised concerns regarding Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss drug Wegovy and its diabetes treatment Ozempic, showing a potential link to a sight-threatening eye condition. Despite this, patients taking these GLP-1 medications have shown a lower risk of certain cancers compared to those taking insulin.

(With inputs from agencies.)