Health News Roundup: Strong T-cell response for blood cancer patients after vaccine; COVID breakthrough often serious for cancer patients; J&J gives the notice to terminate the Emergent manufacturing deal for the COVID vaccine and more

Blood cancer patients show strong T-cell response to COVID vaccines J&J gives notice to terminate Emergent manufacturing deal for COVID vaccine Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it had formally informed Emergent BioSolutions Inc of its decision to terminate agreement with the contract manufacturer to make COVID-19 vaccine for the drugmaker.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 07-06-2022 10:45 IST | Created: 07-06-2022 10:31 IST
Health News Roundup: Strong T-cell response for blood cancer patients after vaccine; COVID breakthrough often serious for cancer patients; J&J gives the notice to terminate the Emergent manufacturing deal for the COVID vaccine and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Strong T-cell response for blood cancer patients after vaccine; COVID breakthrough often serious for cancer patients

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19 and cancer presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. Blood cancer patients show strong T-cell response to COVID vaccines

J&J gives the notice to terminate the Emergent manufacturing deal for the COVID vaccine

Johnson & Johnson said on Monday it had formally informed Emergent BioSolutions Inc of its decision to terminate the agreement with the contract manufacturer to make the COVID-19 vaccine for the drugmaker. The termination notice comes about a week after J&J had initially informed Emergent of its intent to end the pact based on the contract manufacturer's breaches, including failure to supply COVID-19 vaccine drug substance, J&J said.

N.Korea reports 61,730 more people with fever amid COVID outbreak -KCNA

North Korea reported 61,730 more people with fever symptoms amid its first-ever coronavirus outbreak, North Korean state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

Pfizer to spend $120 million to boost U.S. COVID pill manufacturing

Pfizer Inc said on Monday it would spend $120 million to expand manufacturing of its COVID-19 antiviral treatment at its Michigan plant, as demand ramps up. The use of the pill, Paxlovid, authorized to treat newly infected, at-risk people to prevent severe illness, has soared recently as infections rise.

Urban Remedy recalls strawberry drink after U.S. Hepatitis A outbreak

Urban Remedy has recalled its strawberry hibiscus rose tea drink due to potential contamination with Hepatitis A after an outbreak in organic strawberries that is being investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. No illnesses have been reported from the Urban Remedy drink, the FDA said.

Factbox-Monkeypox cases around the world

Around 30 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 911 confirmed or suspected cases mostly in Europe. Monkeypox, which spreads through close contact and was first found in monkeys, mostly occurs in the west and central Africa and only very occasionally spreads elsewhere. Below is a list of non-endemic countries that have so far reported suspected or confirmed cases, in alphabetical order:

U.S. to get 36,000 more monkeypox vaccine doses this week, HHS says

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Monday it had instructed monkeypox vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to deliver an additional 36,000 doses this week as part of a drawdown from a U.S. vaccine stockpile. In a statement, HHS said the doses will be added to the existing 36,000 in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.

Uruguay president says COVID-19 positive, will not attend U.S.-hosted Americas Summit

Uruguay President Luis Lacalle Pou said Monday on Twitter that he will not attend the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas and was "canceling all of his activities for the coming days" after testing positive for COVID-19. Lacalle Pou was scheduled to travel to the United States Tuesday.

Novartis drug combo shows promise in childhood brain cancer

An oral drug combination by Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis showed promise in treating a subgroup of patients suffering from a common childhood brain cancer in a trial. In the mid-stage trial, 47% of the patients that were given the two drugs Tafinlar and Mekinist saw their tumors shrink, far above a rate of 11% in a comparative group of participants on standard chemotherapy, drugmaker said on Monday.

U.S. organizes Germany-to-Texas flight with Nestle baby formula

The United States has organized a flight to deliver 110,000 pounds of Nestlé infant formula from Germany to Texas on June 9, the White House said on Monday. The formula, an equivalent of roughly 1.6 million 8-ounce bottles, will be made available nationwide and further announcements of deliveries of Nestle formula would be made in the coming days, it said.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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