Health News Roundup: Beijing drops COVID testing burden as wider easing beckons; Summit Therapeutics signs up to $5 billion licensing deal for experimental cancer therapy and more

The probe, one of the sources said, focuses on violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test some animals. UK ambulance workers announce strike dates in December More than 10,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales will strike on Dec. 21 and 28 over pay and conditions, the GMB union said on Tuesday, adding to widespread industrial action across Britain's health service over the Christmas period.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Beijing drops COVID testing burden as wider easing beckons

Residents of China's capital were allowed into parks, supermarkets, offices and airports without a negative COVID-19 test on Tuesday, the latest in a mix of easing steps nationwide after unprecedented protests against a tough zero-COVID policy. "Beijing readies itself for life again," read a headline in the government-owned China Daily newspaper, adding that people were "gradually embracing" newfound freedoms.

Summit Therapeutics signs up to $5 billion licensing deal for experimental cancer therapy

Summit Therapeutics Inc said on Tuesday it has signed a licensing deal worth up to $5 billion with China-based Akeso Inc for an experimental cancer therapy. Summit said it would make an upfront payment of $500 million, and Akeso will be eligible for regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to $4.5 billion.

Exclusive: Musk's Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests

Elon Musk's Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations. Neuralink Corp is developing a brain implant it hopes will help paralyzed people walk again and cure other neurological ailments. The federal probe, which has not been previously reported, was opened in recent months by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Inspector General at the request of a federal prosecutor, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation. The probe, one of the sources said, focuses on violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test some animals.

UK ambulance workers announce strike dates in December

More than 10,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales will strike on Dec. 21 and 28 over pay and conditions, the GMB union said on Tuesday, adding to widespread industrial action across Britain's health service over the Christmas period. The union said its members, including paramedics, emergency care assistants and calls handlers, at nine regional ambulance services would walk out.

Britain's health regulator backs COVID vaccine for infants from six months

Britain's health regulator on Tuesday authorised a COVID-19 vaccine for infants as young as six months, opening the door for vaccinating the country's youngest children once the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) agrees. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorised the vaccine - made by Pfizer and BioNTech - for children aged six months to four years old, after it was deemed safe and effective based on an ongoing clinical trial involving 4,526 participants.

Chinese rush to stock up antigen kits, medicines as COVID prevention curbs ease

Chinese residents have rushed to snap up COVID-19 antigen kits and medicines for fevers and colds, as the country's recent easing of prevention measures triggered widespread concern among the public that they could now catch the virus. Online medicine platforms, pharmacies and drugmakers have in recent days reported surging sales, with JD Health saying that sales of antigen test kits jumped 344% in the week between Nov. 28 and Dec. 4 from the previous week.

Valneva: "on track" with Chikungunya vaccine after positive data

Vaccines company Valneva on Monday reported positive 12-month antibody persistence data for its single-shot Chikungunya vaccine candidate. The firm said in a statement it was currently on track to complete its submission for license application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of the year.

Pfizer, BioNTech countersue Moderna over COVID-19 vaccine patents

Pfizer Inc and its German partner, BioNTech SE, fired back at Moderna Inc on Monday in a patent lawsuit over their rival COVID-19 vaccines, seeking dismissal of the lawsuit in Boston federal court and an order that Moderna's patents are invalid and not infringed. Moderna first sued Pfizer in August, accusing the company of violating its rights in three patents related to innovations that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna said it pioneered before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rising flu cases drive up U.S. hospitalizations, CDC says

The United States is experiencing the highest levels of hospitalizations from influenza that it has seen in a decade for this time of year, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday, adding that 14 children have died so far this flu season. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky added that U.S. hospital systems also continue to be stressed with a high number of patients with other respiratory illnesses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19.

Few Chinese keen to travel abroad soon, even if COVID curbs ease -report

More than half of Chinese say they will put off travel abroad, for periods from several months to more than a year, even if borders re-opened tomorrow, a study showed on Tuesday, a sign that consumer recovery from COVID-19 measures will take time. Mainland China retains some of the world's most stringent measures on PCR testing and quarantine for international travellers, despite some domestic easing of curbs after last month's unprecedented COVID protests.