Health News Roundup: S. Carolina court nixes 6-week abortion ban; Idaho judges uphold restrictions; Explainer-What do we know about COVID variant XBB.1.5? and more

Local and state officials from Berks County in Pennsylvania will be the first to pilot the program, known as Home Test to Treat, later this month, with up to 8,000 residents expected to participate, the NIH said. As COVID-hit China reopens to the world, countries put up travel barriers With China days away from dropping border controls that have effectively shut it off from the rest of the world for three years, countries are lining up to impose curbs on travellers from China to contain its raging COVID-19 outbreak.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

S. Carolina court nixes 6-week abortion ban; Idaho judges uphold restrictions

South Carolina's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a state law banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy was unconstitutional because it violated a right to privacy, handing a major win to abortion rights supporters in the U.S. South. Hours later, Idaho's Supreme Court found that the constitution in that state did not protect a right to abortion, drawing the opposite conclusion in a similar case challenging the state's restrictions on pregnancy termination.

Explainer-What do we know about COVID variant XBB.1.5?

The Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, is causing concern among scientists after its rapid spread in the United States in December. Here is what we know so far.

U.S. new drug price exceeds $200,000 median in 2022

After setting record-high U.S. prices in the first half of 2022, drugmakers continued to launch medicines at high prices in the second half, a Reuters analysis has found, highlighting their power despite new legislation to lower costs for older prescription products. The median annual price of the 17 novel drugs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved since July 2022 is $193,900, down from $257,000 in the first half of 2022, Reuters found. For full year 2022, the median was $222,003.

Pfizer to scale down early-stage rare disease research

U.S. pharma giant Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it is planning to realign its early-stage research into treatments for rare diseases and oncology, to focus on areas like rare and benign hematology. Pfizer will also move away from having a rare disease research unit to align important rare disease programs to areas across its research units.

Graphite Bio pauses early-stage blood disease therapy trial

Gene therapy firm Graphite Bio said on Thursday it was pausing an early-to-mid-stage trial of its blood disease therapy due to a serious adverse event in the first patient dosed, sending its shares down nearly 48% in after-hours trading. After being given Graphite's therapy, nula-cel, the patient showed prolonged low blood cell counts and required continued transfusion of blood, which the company believes is likely related to its treatment.

Moderna signs $35 million deal with cancer drug developer CytomX

Moderna Inc on Thursday announced a $35 million licensing deal with cancer-focused drug developer CytomX Therapeutics to work on messenger RNA-based therapies for a wide range of diseases. Shares of California-based CytomX rose more than 50% in extended trading.

NIH launches pilot COVID telehealth program

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Thursday launched a virtual program aimed at making antiviral treatments for COVID-19 available at home for those who test positive. Local and state officials from Berks County in Pennsylvania will be the first to pilot the program, known as Home Test to Treat, later this month, with up to 8,000 residents expected to participate, the NIH said.

As COVID-hit China reopens to the world, countries put up travel barriers

With China days away from dropping border controls that have effectively shut it off from the rest of the world for three years, countries are lining up to impose curbs on travellers from China to contain its raging COVID-19 outbreak. From Sunday, Jan. 8, China will drop a requirement for inbound travellers to quarantine, the latest dismantling of its "zero-COVID" regime that began last month following historic protests against a suffocating series of mass lockdowns.

Factbox-Countries mandate COVID tests for China travellers

Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travellers from China as COVID-19 cases there surged following its relaxation of "zero-COVID" rules. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data. PLACES IMPOSING CURBS

Taiwan offers China help again to deal with COVID surge

Taiwan has again offered to provide China with assistance to help it deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases but Chinese authorities have not yet responded, official Taiwan media reported late on Thursday. China scrapped its stringent COVID controls last month after protests against them, abandoning a policy that had shielded its 1.4 billion population from the virus for three years.