Health News Round-up: FDA snubs Novartis, Bird flu returns, AbbVie settles, Pfizer

The company received an FDA letter turning down its bid to make canakinumab a targeted therapy for those cardiovascular patients who in tests had quickly responded to treatment.

 

FDA snubs Novartis bid to repurpose inflammation drug for heart attacks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected Novartis's bid to repurpose a drug now approved for rare inflammatory diseases to be used in a group of heart attack survivors, the Swiss drugmaker said on Thursday. The company received an FDA letter turning down its bid to make canakinumab a targeted therapy for those cardiovascular patients who in tests had quickly responded to treatment, as levels of a protein in their blood associated with inflammation and heart disease quickly plunged.

French foie gras makers say they are ready if bird flu returns

French foie gras makers, still recovering from two severe bird flu crises that ravaged flocks, said on Thursday they would be able to face any new outbreak thanks to strict security measures but prices will remain high to make up for increased costs. France, which has one of the largest poultry flocks in the European Union, is one of the countries that was most affected by the H5N8 bird flu virus that spread through wild birds across the continent last year.

China hog price to rise ahead of Spring Festival on African swine fever impact: agriculture ministry

China's hog prices were set to rise ahead of the Spring Festival, another name for the Chinese New Year holiday, because of the impact of African swine fever on supply, the country's agriculture ministry said on Friday. Prices will jump as some farmers did not replenish their herds in major production areas in the past two months, said Tang Ke, the head of the market and economy information department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

AbbVie settles Humira biosimilar dispute with Fresenius Kabi

U.S. drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Thursday it has settled a patent dispute regarding its Humira biosimilar with Fresenius Kabi Oncology Ltd and will grant the Germany-based company non-exclusive marketing rights for the drug. In the European Union, Fresenius Kabi can launch its biosimilar upon approval from the European Medicines Agency, while the license period in the United States will begin on Sept. 30, 2023, AbbVie said.

Australian watchdog's appeal against Pfizer ruling dismissed by court

Australia's competition watchdog said on Friday the High Court dismissed its special leave application to appeal a court's decision on whether Pfizer Inc's local unit used its market power to limit competition for its cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sought leave to appeal against a judgment by a Federal Court in May when Pfizer was alleged to have abused its market power by offering big discounts and rebates on Lipitor to pharmacies.

U.S. blocks pork from Poland over African swine fever

The United States suspended imports of pork from Poland on Thursday over an outbreak of the highly contagious hog disease African swine fever in that country. African swine fever has spread rapidly in eastern Europe and China, the world's largest pork producer, where new cases are appearing and the disease is travelling far distances.

Scottish government identifies case of mad cow disease

Scotland's government said on Thursday that a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, had been discovered on a farm in Aberdeenshire, the first in Britain since 2015. A quarantine area has been put in place around the farm while inspectors try to identify the origin of the disease.

Adult bones healthier when kids participate in organized sports

(Reuters Health) - Young adults who played in organized sports as children and teens have stronger bones than peers who were less active as kids, a new study suggests Australian researchers found boys and girls who consistently participated in sports between the ages of 5 and 17 ended up with better bone density at age 20 than those who dropped out or never played, according to the results in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Merck, Pfizer combo treatment meets main goals of kidney cancer trial

Merck & Co said on Thursday a combination treatment of its cancer drug Keytruda and Pfizer Inc's Inlyta met the main goals of a late-stage study in patients with the most common form of kidney cancer. The combination resulted in statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in overall survival of the patients and helped patients survive without cancer worsening when compared to Pfizer's kidney cancer drug, Sutent.

Older vets often leave hospital on increased dose of blood pressure pills

(Reuters Health) - Doctors may be overtreating high blood pressure in U.S. Veterans Administration hospitals, a new study suggests. One in seven older veterans with hypertension are sent home from hospitals with increased doses of blood pressure medication even though half of those given more medication had well-controlled blood pressure before hospital admission, researchers found.

(With inputs from agencies.)