Reuters Health News Summary

The FDA had put Pfizer's trial request on hold after the death of a patient in another early-stage study of the therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which was also paused. Moderna files for U.S. authorization of COVID shot for kids under 6 Moderna Inc said on Thursday it asked U.S. regulators to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 6, which would make it the first shot against the coronavirus available for those under 5-years-old.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

WHO says pandemic justifies leader's pitch at Moderna meeting

The head of the World Health Organization will present a shareholder resolution at the annual meeting of Moderna Inc on Thursday, a rare step into investor advocacy by the United Nations agency. At the virtual meeting of the Cambridge, Mass. Company, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will call on shareholders to vote for the company to study transferring knowledge to facilitate the production of COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle-income countries as a way to combat the global pandemic.

Eli Lilly shares gain after results beat estimates, obesity drug data

Eli Lilly and Co on Thursday posted quarterly results that beat Wall Street estimates and said its experimental obesity drug met the main goal in a late-stage study, sending shares of the drugmaker up 4%. Tirzepatide showed up to 22.5% weight loss in adults with obesity in the study, with the trial also meeting a key secondary goal.

Explainer-Shanghai death numbers raise questions over its COVID accounting

China's biggest COVID-19 outbreak, in Shanghai, has again raised questions about the country's official data - especially a death rate that despite a recent jump, remains far lower than elsewhere. HOW LOW IS THE DEATH RATE?

Africa seeing uptick in COVID cases driven by S.Africa, WHO says

Africa is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 infections, largely driven by a doubling in cases reported in South Africa, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, urging people across the continent to continue to get vaccinated. Africa had been experiencing a lull in COVID cases, with the WHO earlier this month pointing to the longest-running decline in weekly infections on the continent since the start of the pandemic.

U.S. FDA to publish proposal to ban menthol cigarettes - WSJ

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to publish proposed rules to ban menthol cigarettes on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The proposed ban, which would prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars, will not take effect for at least two years, according to the WSJ report.

EU estimates up to 80% of population has had COVID

The European Commission said that between 60% and 80% of the EU population was estimated to have been infected with COVID-19, as the bloc enters a post-emergency phase in which mass reporting of cases was no longer necessary. In preparing for this less acute phase, European Union governments should ramp up COVID-19 immunisations of children, the bloc's executive body said, signalling it was considering plans to develop antivirals.

Shanghai's focus shifts to vaccination of elderly as new cases decline

The COVID-hit city of Shanghai is making more resources available to improve vaccination rates among the elderly as daily case numbers decline and it looks for a way out of four weeks of stringent lockdown restrictions. The city, battling China's biggest ever coronavirus outbreak, saw new asymptomatic cases fall to 9,330 on April 27, down 22% from a day earlier and its lowest rate in 24 days, with symptomatic infections also down by almost a fifth.

Taiwan's daily COVID cases top 10,000 for first time

Taiwan reported on Thursday that the daily number of confirmed domestic COVID-19 cases had topped 10,000 for the first time, in line with predictions, and the health minister said infections would continue to rise. Taiwan, population 23 million, has reported a spike in cases since the start of the year - 51,504 so far - after having previously well controlled the pandemic with tight border controls and tough quarantines.

Pfizer to start U.S. trial of gene therapy as FDA lifts hold

Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it would open the first U.S. trial sites for its experimental gene therapy for a muscle-wasting disorder, after the Food and Drug Administration lifted its hold on a late-stage study. The FDA had put Pfizer's trial request on hold after the death of a patient in another early-stage study of the therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which was also paused.

Moderna files for U.S. authorization of COVID shot for kids under 6

Moderna Inc said on Thursday it asked U.S. regulators to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 6, which would make it the first shot against the coronavirus available for those under 5-years-old. The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE is authorized for children 5 and older. But their trial results for 2- to 4-year-olds showed a weaker immune response than in adults, forcing the study to be extended to test a third dose. Pfizer has said that data would come in April.