Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca expects U.S. trial results in next 4-6 weeks; French coronavirus hospitalisations fall third day in a row and more

U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning a rapid review process for quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants of the coronavirus emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection, the agency's top official said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

FDA approves Bristol-Myers' gene therapy for white blood cell cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved Bristol-Myers Squibb's cell-based gene therapy, Breyanzi, to treat adult patients with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma who have not responded to, or have relapsed after, at least two other types of systemic treatment. The FDA granted approval of Breyanzi for the treatment of the cancer that starts in white blood cells to Bristol-Myers Squibb's unit Juno Therapeutics Inc.

AstraZeneca expects U.S. trial results in next 4-6 weeks, research chief says

AstraZeneca expects to have results from a U.S. clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in the next four to six weeks, the company's research chief Mene Pangalos said on Friday. Asked when the late-stage U.S. trial would read out, particularly given high rates of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the months since it began in August, Pangalos agreed the rates had been high in "the latter period" of it, suggesting that was why the read out would come later.

Oxford says COVID-19 vaccine with AstraZeneca works against UK variant

AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine has similar efficacy against the British coronavirus variant as it does to the previously circulating variants, the university said on Friday. The variant, first identified in Kent, southern England, is more easily transmissible, prompting many countries to restrict travel to Britain. It also led to a spike in infections that forced a new national lockdown in England last month.

Walgreens, CVS beef up protections against threat of 'bot' attacks on vaccine program

U.S. retailers and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health are preparing for a fresh round of "bot" attacks by scalpers hoping to snap up COVID-19 vaccine appointments as they did hoarding Sony PlayStation 5s and Nike sneakers. For over a decade, the retail industry has battled so-called "scalper bots," programmed to cut digital lines and snap up limited-supply products within milliseconds of their release, that are resold at significant mark-ups.

Countdown to 'catastrophe:' Inside Europe's fight for COVID shots

In a meeting last week in the Europa building in Brussels, home of the European Union's political leadership, diplomats for the 27 member states were desperate. The EU had paid billions of euros toward shots to curb a pandemic that was killing thousands of Europeans every day. Now vaccine-makers had cut back deliveries, and the EU was trapped in a public fight.

Understanding COVID-19 origins will take years, says WHO team member

A member of the World Health Organization-led team visiting the central Chinese city of Wuhan said he has been surprised by the complexity of getting to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and that years of research lay ahead. Dominic Dwyer, a microbiologist and infectious diseases expert, said the team in Wuhan had received the access it requested from Chinese authorities as it tries to understand the early days of the novel coronavirus outbreak first identified in Wuhan.

French coronavirus hospitalisations fall third day in a row

France reported 22,139 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, down from 23,448 on Thursday and 22,858 last Friday, as the trend remained steady, but the number of patients in hospital fell for the third day in a row. The cumulative number of cases increased to 3.29 million.

White House says it is working to speed early production of J&J COVID-19 vaccine

The Biden administration is exploring every option for increasing manufacturing of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, which is under regulatory review, and said on Friday that currently expected levels of early doses were less than hoped. The White House has invoked the Defense Production Act to help Pfizer Inc ramp up COVID-19 vaccine production and that "every option" was on the table to produce more Johnson & Johnson vaccine should it be authorized.

COVAX bottlenecks need to be urgently addressed, U.N. agency says

A top official at the U.N. agency in charge of vaccine deliveries via the COVAX sharing scheme urged recipient countries on Friday to address bottlenecks that could hamper the rollout set to begin this month. COVAX is meant to start dispatching the first of hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries from February in a bid to address the inequity in vaccine distribution which has so far favoured wealthy countries. U.S.

FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning a rapid review process for quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants of the coronavirus emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection, the agency's top official said on Thursday. Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the FDA, said that if new variants of the coronavirus emerge that require booster shots or changes to vaccines, the agency will not require the type of large trials that were required for emergency use authorization or approval.