Health News Summary: Cargill recalls contaminated beef; Kymriah wins approval for blood cancer treatment

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Pfizer rare heart disease drug reduces the risk of death by 30 per cent in study

Pfizer Inc said on Monday that its drug tafamidis reduced the risk of death for patients with a rare and fatal heart disease by around 30 per cent, boosting the prospects of what could be a billion-dollar-a-year drug. The study showed that tafamidis reduced all-cause mortality over a 30-month period in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy to 29.5 per cent, versus 42.9 per cent in patients who received a placebo. It also reduced the rate of cardiovascular-related hospitalization by around 32 per cent, Pfizer said.

Cargill recalls 25,000 lbs of possibly contaminated beef

A Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Colorado is recalling more than 25,000 pounds (11,300 kg) of ground beef that could be contaminated with E. Coli, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The meat carries an "EST. 86R" label inside the USDA mark of inspection and a use-by date of Sept. 5, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said this week in a statement. It was shipped from Cargill's facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado, to warehouses in California and Colorado, FSIS said.

Novartis's Kymriah wins EU approval for blood cancer treatment

Novartis received European approval for Kymriah, its gene-modifying therapy for blood cancer, but said its introduction will vary from country to country as the Swiss drugmaker works out payment details and builds manufacturing capacity. The company aims to initially use the therapy in Europe to treat young people up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), and later for adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Bayer, J&J's bid to further widen the use of Xarelto hits snag

Bayer and Johnson & Johnson's campaign to widen the patient group for their heart drug Xarelto hit a snag when two smaller studies failed to show a statistically reliant benefit. The blockbuster clot prevention drug could not be shown with statistical significance to help heart failure patients after an acute worsening of their condition, results from the so-called Commander HF trial showed on Monday.

South Korea tightens quarantine after African swine fever found in Chinese foods

//South Korea's agriculture ministry said on Monday it has ramped up quarantine measures at airports after African swine fever (ASF) was detected in Chinese foods brought by a South Korean traveller//The ministry said in a statement the South Korean traveller brought in processed pork products from China and reported them to authorities; however, the possibility of spreading is low because the foods were heat-treated

Esperion says combo therapy lowers cholesterol level by 35 per cent

Esperion Therapeutics Inc said on Monday a combination of its drug, bempedoic acid, taken along with Merck's Zetia lowered cholesterol level by 35 per cent in a late-stage study. The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the bempedoic acid-ezetimibe combination pill compared with bempedoic acid, ezetimibe or placebo in 382 high-risk patients.

Bayer, J&J's heart drug Xarelto fails trial to widen the use

Bayer and Johnson & Johnson's campaign to widen the market for its heart drug Xarelto hit a snag on Sunday when a study for a potential new patient subgroup failed to show a statistically reliant benefit. The blockbuster clot prevention drug could not be shown to reduce the rate of dangerous blood clots in a certain group of high-risk patients after discharge from the hospital, the New England Journal of Medicine reported.

China's Shandong bans live hogs, products from African swine fever areas

China's Shandong province said it has banned live hogs and related products from areas of high risk for African swine fever (ASF) from entering the province, in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly disease across the world's largest herd. The eastern province will strengthen inspection and quarantine on the slaughtering of hogs and step up checks on live hogs and products being transported within the region, Shandong's animal husbandry bureau said in a statement on its website on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)