Regulatory Developments in Health: From Cancer Drugs to Vaccine Royalties

Recent developments in health include the FDA approving an injectable version of Opdivo, a revived lawsuit against Novartis for illegal kickbacks, Kosovo detecting its first monkeypox case, FDA proposal on asbestos testing, bird flu mutations in the US, China's new monitoring system for respiratory diseases, and BioNTech's settlement over COVID-19 vaccine royalties.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has greenlit an injectable variant of Bristol Myers Squibb's cancer medication, Opdivo, potentially enhancing options in PD-1 inhibitor therapies.

A U.S. appeals court has revived litigation alleging that Novartis engaged in unlawful practices to promote its drug Gilenya through kickbacks, adding a significant chapter to pharmaceutical ethics scrutiny.

BioNTech reaches a settlement involving COVID-19 vaccine royalty payments with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, strengthening global pharmaceutical collaboration. Meanwhile, global health vigilance steps up as Kosovo records its first monkeypox case, and China initiates new systems to combat unknown respiratory diseases.

(With inputs from agencies.)