Health News Roundup: China reports new African swine fever; Shionogi aims to double flu-drug market

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Takeda proposes sale of Shire drug to gain European approval

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd has proposed to European regulators it could sell a Shire treatment in development due to concerns of overlap in inflammatory bowel disease treatments and its own drug Entyvio as it seeks clearance for the two companies' merger. The Japanese drug developer said it had proposed divesting Shire's pipeline compound SHP647, which is currently in Phase III clinical trials, along with some associated rights.

China reports new African swine fever in Hunan province

China's agricultural ministry reported on Sunday a new outbreak of African swine fever in Changde city of central Hunan province, where 99 pigs were killed and 106 were sick. The affected farm has a herd of 7,684 pigs, the ministry said on its website.

FDA approves TherapeuticsMD's menopause drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TherapeuticsMD's oral hormone therapy for menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep disturbances and night sweats, the company said on Monday. The regulatory nod is the third in five months for the drugmaker, which received approvals for a birth control device and another hormone therapy for menopause symptoms.

Drugmakers tout new medicines as eye disease battle intensifies

Switzerland's Roche and Novartis and other drugmakers are touting new treatments for a blindness-causing disease that hits millions of older people, as patent expiries are set to open up one of medicine's most lucrative markets. Roche's experimental faricimab showed long-lasting effectiveness against age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the Basel-based drugmaker said on Monday, potentially reducing the frequency of uncomfortable, direct-in-the-eye shots.

Shionogi aims to double flu-drug market with FDA-approved treatment

Japan's Shionogi & Co Ltd aims to double the global market for flu treatment with its drug Xofluza, the first flu drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration agency in nearly 20 years, its chief executive said. The drugmaker on Monday raised its full-year operating profit outlook to 124.5 billion yen ($1.11 billion), underpinned by an early approval for the new drug, beating the average market estimates of 121.08 billion yen, according to Refinitiv.

Novartis, Pfizer join forces on potentially lucrative fatty liver disease

Novartis AG and Pfizer Inc are teaming up to develop treatments for a liver disease many drug companies believe will become a hugely lucrative market, as it is tied to the obesity and diabetes epidemics. The Swiss and U.S. drugmakers announced on Monday that they will collaborate to develop combination therapies involving medicines they have been working on separately to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH.

(With inputs from agencies.)