Health News Roundup: EU regulator to discuss anaesthesia risk for weight-loss drugs; Immunovant shares surge as early antibody treatment data beats expectations and more

The Food and Drug Administration has reprimanded at least 28 companies this year, saying they failed to prove sufficient testing of ingredients used in over-the-counter drugs and consumer products for the toxins ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), according to a Reuters analysis of agency import alerts and warning letters to manufacturers. Exclusive-Edwards Lifesciences cooperating with EU antitrust regulators Edwards Lifesciences is working with EU antitrust regulators after they raided one of its facilities in an EU country a week ago, the U.S. medical device maker said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

EU regulator to discuss anaesthesia risk for weight-loss drugs

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will discuss the risk that patients on Wegovy, Ozempic or similar drugs may suffer certain complications under anaesthesia that can lead to pneumonia, according to an agenda posted on the regulator's website. The regulator's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), which monitors drugs' side effects, will discuss at its monthly series of meetings this week a new "signal of aspiration and pneumonia aspiration" associated with the class of weight-loss and diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, according to the document posted late on Monday.

Immunovant shares surge as early antibody treatment data beats expectations

Shares of Immunovant more than doubled on Tuesday after early-stage data from its experimental antibody treatment exceeded analysts' expectations. The drug developer, whose shares hit a more than two-and-a-half year high of $41.72, was set to add nearly $3 billion to its market capitalization if gains hold.

Russia mulls joining China in banning Japanese seafood imports

Russia may join China in banning Japanese seafood imports after Japan released treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, and Moscow is seeking talks with Japan, a Russian regulator said on Tuesday. Japan started releasing the water from the plant into the ocean last month, drawing strong criticism from China. In retaliation, China imposed a blanket ban on all aquatic imports from Japan.

About 250,000 courses of COVID pill Paxlovid being administered per week - Pfizer CEO

Pfizer Inc's chief executive said on Tuesday that almost 250,000 courses of the drugmaker's oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid were being administered per week as cases surged in the United States. Speaking at the Cantor Fitzgerald Annual Healthcare Conference, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said the company is still uncertain about when Paxlovid, which is currently being distributed by the government, will receive approval to be sold in the U.S. commercial market.

EU in talks with Moderna over new deal for COVID vaccines - FT

The European Union is in talks with Moderna over a new supply deal for the company's COVID-19 vaccines amid concerns over a rise in infections in the region, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The company supplied its COVID vaccines to the EU during the pandemic, but the contract for its Omicron-adjusted vaccines ended in August last year and was not renewed.

Pakistan probes distributors of Roche cancer drug after patients go blind

Pakistan said on Monday it was investigating two local distributors of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche's Avastin cancer drug after 12 diabetic patients injected with the drug went blind. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) said the health authorities in Punjab, the most populous province, had launched the investigation into local use of the drug Avastin, which is licensed for use in Pakistan.

Consulting firm McKinsey to pay $230 million in latest US opioid settlements

Consulting firm McKinsey & Co has agreed to pay $230 million to resolve lawsuits by hundreds of U.S. local governments and school districts alleging it fueled an epidemic of opioid addiction through its work for bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other drug companies. The settlements, which require a judge's approval, were disclosed in papers filed on Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco. The money is on top of $641.5 million that McKinsey already paid to resolve claims by state attorneys-general.

Cough syrup deaths overseas prompt US crackdown on toxic testing

The U.S. FDA is cracking down on lax testing practices by dozens of makers of healthcare products following hundreds of deaths overseas from contaminated cough syrups, a Reuters review of regulatory alerts found. The Food and Drug Administration has reprimanded at least 28 companies this year, saying they failed to prove sufficient testing of ingredients used in over-the-counter drugs and consumer products for the toxins ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), according to a Reuters analysis of agency import alerts and warning letters to manufacturers.

Exclusive-Edwards Lifesciences cooperating with EU antitrust regulators

Edwards Lifesciences is working with EU antitrust regulators after they raided one of its facilities in an EU country a week ago, the U.S. medical device maker said on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences' shares had dipped 2.5% in pre-market trade after Reuters published a story citing two people with direct knowledge of the EU raid. The stock recovered and is now up 0.8%.

US judge overturns Eli Lilly's $176.5 million loss in Teva patent case

Drugmaker Eli Lilly convinced a federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday to overturn a $176.5 million jury verdict for Teva Pharmaceutical that found Lilly's migraine drug Emgality infringed three patents related to Teva's rival drug Ajovy. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said in a post-trial ruling that the Teva patents covering the use of antibodies to inhibit headache-causing peptides were invalid.