Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca wins EU backing for heart drug, but suffers lung cancer setback; China's capital Beijing to speed up imports of COVID drugs - official and more

Shares of the drugmaker surged more than three-fold on Monday after the positive data on resmetirom - a potential treatment for NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, the fastest-growing cause of liver transplants. China reports five new COVID deaths for Dec 19 vs 2 a day earlier China reported five new COVID-19 deaths for Dec. 19, compared with two the previous day, increasing the nation's fatalities to 5,242 the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

AstraZeneca wins EU backing for heart drug, but suffers lung cancer setback

AstraZeneca on Monday won European endorsement for its blockbuster drug, dapagliflozin, as a treatment for all forms of heart failure, the company said. The drug, which belongs to a class of medicines called SGLT2 inhibitors and is branded as Forxiga in the European Union, raked in about $1 billion in sales in the first three quarters of 2022.

China's capital Beijing to speed up imports of COVID drugs - official

China's capital Beijing will speed up global procurement of COVID-related drugs to relieve pressure from domestic shortages and expedite clearance for inbound shipments, a Beijing pharmaceuticals official said at a press conference on Monday.

U.S. FDA lifts hold on Bluebird's sickle cell disease therapy

Bluebird Bio Inc said on Monday that the U.S. health regulator had lifted a partial clinical hold on studies for its gene therapy to treat blood disorder sickle cell disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision ends a year-long halt on future studies and a pause in enrollment for ongoing studies of lovo-cel after one case of persistent anemia in a patient.

Madrigal leads race for NASH treatments after trial success, shares surge

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals' experimental drug met the main goals in a eagerly anticipated late-stage study, propelling it to the forefront in the race for the first approved treatment for patients with advanced liver scarring. Shares of the drugmaker surged more than three-fold on Monday after the positive data on resmetirom - a potential treatment for NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, the fastest-growing cause of liver transplants.

China reports five new COVID deaths for Dec 19 vs 2 a day earlier

China reported five new COVID-19 deaths for Dec. 19, compared with two the previous day, increasing the nation's fatalities to 5,242 the National Health Commission said on Tuesday. The country reported 2,722 new symptomatic COVID-19 infections on Dec. 19, compared with 1,995 a day earlier.

CVS, Walgreens limit purchase of children's pain medicines

Pharmacy chains CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc limited purchase of children's pain drugs as they face supply constraints and high demand with the United States experiencing one of the worst flu season in a decade. CVS said there is currently a two-product limit on all children's pain-relief products at all its pharmacy locations and online, while Walgreens said it had put a limit of six over-the-counter pediatric fever reducers per online transaction.

Medical device makers drop products as EU law sows chaos

Nicola Osypka's German company has been selling medical devices used in surgery on newborn babies in Europe for decades, but new European Union rules have forced her to make tough decisions. Under the regulations designed to prevent another health scandal, such as the one in 2010 involving ruptured breast implants made by Poly Implant Prothese, companies must apply for new certificates for their medical equipment.

China races to install hospital beds as COVID surge sparks concern abroad

Cities across China scrambled to install hospital beds and build fever screening clinics on Tuesday as the United States said Beijing's surprise decision to let the virus run free was a concern for the world. China this month abruptly began dismantling its stringent "zero-COVID" regime of mass lockdowns after protests against curbs that had largely kept the virus at bay for three years but at significant costs to society and the world's second-largest economy.

COVID-19 still Spain's leading cause of deaths this year

The number of deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic fell by almost a third in Spain in the first half of this year from a year ago, but the illness provoked by the virus remained the leading cause of fatalities, official data showed on Monday. Spain's statistics agency INE said 20,915 people died from COVID-19 in the first half of 2022, according to provisional data, down from 29,300 during the same period in 2021.

'I don't trust it:' Vaccine hesitancy lingers even as China COVID cases surge

Headhunter Candice knows the COVID-19 infections engulfing Beijing and much of China will soon hit her home of Shenzhen city, but she would rather face it without a vaccine booster, saying she fears potential side effects more than the virus. The 28-year-old took two doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac last year, hoping it would make travel easier, but she has since grown more sceptical, citing stories from friends about health impacts, as well as similar health warnings on social media.