Health News Roundup: US Supreme Court torn over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement; Roche joins race for obesity drugs with $2.7 billion Carmot deal and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. US Supreme Court torn over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday struggled over whether to approve OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement, voicing concern the deal would shield its wealthy Sackler family owners from lawsuits over their role in a deadly opioid epidemic while also worrying that scuttling it could harm victims.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

US Supreme Court torn over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday struggled over whether to approve OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement, voicing concern the deal would shield its wealthy Sackler family owners from lawsuits over their role in a deadly opioid epidemic while also worrying that scuttling it could harm victims. The court heard arguments in an appeal by President Joe Biden's administration of a lower court's ruling upholding the settlement for the Stamford, Connecticut-based company.

Explainer-How climate change is making the world sick

Heat stress. Lung damage from wildfire smoke. The spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes into new regions as temperatures rise. These are just a few of the ways that public health has been impacted and compounded by climate change - a focus for the first time ever at the annual U.N. climate summit COP28.

Roche joins race for obesity drugs with $2.7 billion Carmot deal

Roche agreed to take over unlisted obesity drug developer Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 billion upfront, joining a list of contestants seeking to challenge the dominant makers of weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. The U.S. takeover target's most promising drug candidate, a once-a-week injection called CT-388, is a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist like Lilly's Mounjaro, or Zepbound.

Factbox-Roche enters obesity drugs race with $2.7 billion Carmot deal

The race to grab a slice of the lucrative market for obesity treatments is heating up among drugmakers, with Swiss company Roche becoming one of the latest entrants following its $2.7 billion deal to buy Carmot Therapeutics. The market for obesity treatments is estimated to be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade and already has Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly making a big splash with their highly sought-after treatments.The following is a list of companies targeting the next big blockbuster opportunity:

US FDA gives second approval to Eli Lilly's drug for type of blood cancer

Eli Lilly said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave a second approval for its drug Jaypirca, which is used to treat a form of blood cancer. The company said the health regulator gave the new approval to the drug for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many of certain white blood cells.

South Africa's Aspen expands further into Asia with Sandoz China deal

Aspen Pharmacare is expanding further into China through a deal to buy the Chinese business of Swiss group Sandoz for up to 92.6 million euros ($100.6 million), the South African company said on Monday. As part of the deal, Aspen Global Incorporated, a subsidiary of Aspen, will also buy the selling and intellectual property rights of a portfolio of established products that include Sandostatin, Aclasta and Voriconazole.

Belgium reports bird flu outbreak on farm near French border

Belgium has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, on a poultry farm in the northwestern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday. The outbreak, which would be the first this season, was detected in Diksmuide, not far from France. It killed 95 birds and led to the slaughter of the rest of the flock of 20,100 poultry, the Paris-based body said, quoting information from Belgian authorities.

India finds quality issues with cough syrup linked to Cameroon deaths - sources

Indian tests of a cough syrup linked to the deaths of at least six children in Cameroon have found unidentified quality issues in at least one of the five samples picked up by authorities, two people familiar with the investigation told Reuters. Riemann Labs is one of three Indian drugmakers whose cough syrups have been linked to the deaths of at least 141 children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since the middle of last year. That has cast a shadow on the quality of exports from India, often dubbed the "world's pharmacy" due to its supply of life-saving drugs at low prices to countries that most need them.

Explainer-How will the Supreme Court reshape US opioid epidemic relief?

The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Monday to hear arguments over the legality of a roughly $6 billion bankruptcy settlement involving Purdue Pharma, maker of the powerful and highly addictive pain medication OxyContin that played a key role in the country's opioid epidemic. If the justices allow the deal to proceed, it could lead to billions of dollars being poured into addiction-treatment and other relief efforts. The settlement also would shield the Stamford, Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company's wealthy Sackler family owners from lawsuits brought by opioid victims.

Analysis-As Bayer confronts mounting Roundup losses, all eyes on Philadelphia trial

With Bayer facing investor pressure to resolve thousands of lawsuits over its Roundup weedkiller after being hit with $2 billion in verdicts in recent weeks, all eyes are on a trial wrapping up in Philadelphia. Plaintiffs have won the last four trials over their claims that the product causes cancer, each time securing a larger verdict. Those losses ended a nine-trial winning streak for Bayer, shattering investor and company hopes that the worst of the Roundup litigation was over.