Health News Roundup: Romania to sell excess COVID-19 vaccines to Denmark; Ireland allows AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, cuts dose gap and more

The dispute, launched by Novartis in a California state court but recently shifted to a federal court, stems from a 2005 deal requiring U.S.-based Chiron Corp to make payments to Roche's U.S. Genentech unit for use of its intellectual property. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine shows promise against Delta variant in lab study Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine showed promise against the Delta variant first identified in India in a lab study, with a modest decrease in response compared to the original strain, the drugmaker said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Heart inflammation after COVID-19 shots higher-than-expected in study of U.S. military

Members of the U.S. military who were vaccinated against COVID-19 showed higher-than-expected rates of heart inflammation, although the condition was still extremely rare, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study found that 23 previously healthy males with an average age of 25 complained of chest pain within four days of receiving a COVID-19 shot. The incident rate was higher than some previous estimates would have anticipated, it said.

Romania to sell excess COVID-19 vaccines to Denmark

Romania has agreed to sell 1.17 million doses of excess Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines to Denmark, the Danish health ministry said on Tuesday. "We can do this deal because Romania is experiencing low vaccination backing and therefore wants to sell excess vaccines which they won't be able to use," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said in a statement.

Ireland allows AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, cuts dose gap

Ireland on Tuesday lifted restrictions on giving AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to adults aged under 50 and reduced the recommended gap between doses from eight weeks to four. Curbs on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for under-50s have also been dropped, the government said in a statement.

U.S. donating 2 million COVID-19 vaccines to Peru -State Dept

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday said the United States will donate 2 million COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines to Peru, State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said, as the country battles a deadly coronavirus outbreak. "The United States is donating 2 million Pfizer vaccine doses to Peru as a part of our ongoing solidarity with the people of Peru as they recover from this devastating pandemic," Porter said.

Taiwan to discuss easing vaccine trade in talks with U.S.

Taiwan will discuss easing the import and export of COVID-19 vaccines with the United States when it holds trade talks with Washington this week, which will help in bringing the pandemic under control, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday. The two sides are due to resume long-stalled trade discussions on Wednesday as Washington seeks to deepen its support for the Chinese-claimed island, and at a time when Taiwan is dealing with a cluster of domestic COVID-19 cases.

Novartis contends Roche 'unjustly enriched' itself with $210 million in fees -lawsuit

Novartis AG wants Roche Holding AG to return $210 million after accusing its Swiss rival of inappropriately pocketing fees from a 16-year-old patent licensing agreement, according to a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The dispute, launched by Novartis in a California state court but recently shifted to a federal court, stems from a 2005 deal requiring U.S.-based Chiron Corp to make payments to Roche's U.S. Genentech unit for use of its intellectual property.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine shows promise against Delta variant in lab study

Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine showed promise against the Delta variant first identified in India in a lab study, with a modest decrease in response compared to the original strain, the drugmaker said on Tuesday. The study was conducted on blood serum from eight participants obtained one week after they received the second dose of the vaccine, mRNA-1273.

N.Y. jury urged to hold drugmakers liable for opioid crisis

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Endo International and Abbvie Inc's Allergan misleadingly marketed opioid drugs as having a low addiction risk, a lawyer for a New York county told jurors Tuesday, urging them to hold the companies liable. Jayne Conroy, representing Suffolk County, also said that the drugmakers and the nation's largest drug distributors - AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp - failed to report suspicious opioid orders as required.

China's CanSino cuts ties with Brazil firm, halting vaccine licensing

Brazilian health regulator Anvisa has canceled a request for emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's CanSino Biologics Inc after the laboratory cut ties with its Brazilian representative. The move follows a wave of scrutiny in Brazil of vaccine contracts negotiated by intermediaries, a common local practice.

Cuba begins coronavirus vaccine trials on children

Cuba has begun testing its Soberana 2 coronavirus candidate vaccine on children ages three to 18 years, the government said this week. State-run television broadcast video of children receiving their first of three doses on Monday after adolescents were vaccinated last week.

(With inputs from agencies.)