Health News Roundup: Abbott's medical device sales recovery aids quarterly profit beat; US FDA authorizes second Omicron-updated COVID booster for older adults and more

The agency also said the updated shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna would become the new primary COVID vaccine, and withdrew its emergency-use authorization for the older messenger RNA vaccines that target only the original version of coronavirus. India's top pregnancy test kit maker Mankind eyes biggest IPO so far this year Indian pharmaceutical company Mankind Pharma Ltd is seeking a valuation of 432.64 billion rupees ($5.27 billion) at the upper end of a price band it set for its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, making it the largest domestic stock launch so far this year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Abbott's medical device sales recovery aids quarterly profit beat

Abbott Laboratories reported quarterly profit above expectations on Wednesday, underpinned by sales of its diabetes care devices and an improved demand for other devices due to a resumption in non-urgent medical procedures. Shares of Abbott jumped 2% in premarket trading after the company released earnings.

US FDA authorizes second Omicron-updated COVID booster for older adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a second dose of Omicron-targeting COVID-19 vaccines for older adults as well as those with a weak immune system. The agency also said the updated shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna would become the new primary COVID vaccine, and withdrew its emergency-use authorization for the older messenger RNA vaccines that target only the original version of coronavirus.

India's top pregnancy test kit maker Mankind eyes biggest IPO so far this year

Indian pharmaceutical company Mankind Pharma Ltd is seeking a valuation of 432.64 billion rupees ($5.27 billion) at the upper end of a price band it set for its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, making it the largest domestic stock launch so far this year. The company, which makes at-home pregnancy testing kit Prega News which have an 80% market share in the country, as well as Manforce condoms, set the price band at 1,026 rupees to 1,080 rupees per share.

Elevance Health raises annual profit outlook as medical costs decline

Elevance Health Inc raised its annual earnings forecast and beat quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday, aided by lower medical costs in its health insurance business. A decline in COVID hospitalizations and slow recovery in non-urgent surgeries has helped keep medical costs in check for health insurers over the past few quarters.

UK's GSK workers to strike in May over pay - union

Hundreds of GSK workers have voted to stage a series of walkouts at UK manufacturing sites in May over a dispute over pay, in what could be a first at the British drugmaker, labour union Unite said on Wednesday. Unite said its 750 members voted to go on strike, having turned down the company's "significantly below inflation rate pay offer" of a 6% increase and a one-off lump sum of 1,300 pounds ($1,615).

Anti-abortion groups urge US Supreme Court to restrict abortion pill

The U.S. Supreme Court should restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, anti-abortion groups challenging the medication's federal regulatory approval told the justices in a filing on Tuesday, urging them to implement curbs ordered by a conservative federal judge in Texas. The challengers urged the Supreme Court to reject emergency requests by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration and the pill's manufacturer to halt the April 7 preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo that would greatly limit mifepristone's distribution, while litigation proceeds.

AstraZeneca confident new COVID antibody protects against known variants

AstraZeneca is confident that its new version of COVID-19 antibody treatment could protect immunocompromised patients against all known virus variants, its vaccines head said. Laboratory studies show the antibody, called AZD3152, neutralizes all known variants of COVID-19 and AstraZeneca has support from regulators to make the treatment available by the end of this year, Iskra Reic said in an interview on Tuesday.

WHO warns Sudan's hospitals running out of supplies, staff

The World Health Organization's chief called on Tuesday for the parties in the conflict in Sudan to provide access to medical facilities to all those requiring care, warning that medical supplies and personnel in the capital are running low.

"I want to be very clear: All parties must ensure unrestricted and safe access to health facilities for those injured and everyone in need of medical care," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing.

J&J talc unit asks judge to halt cancer lawsuits as it pursues $8.9 billion settlement

A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary is again asking a U.S. judge to pause tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging the company's baby powder and other talc products cause cancer, as it seeks to resolve the litigation in bankruptcy after a federal appeals court found its first attempt improper. At a Tuesday hearing in Trenton, New Jersey, a lawyer for LTL Management argued the lawsuits, which are already stayed against LTL, should also be stopped against J&J, which has a market value of over $430 billion and has not filed for bankruptcy itself.

Protester breaks silence on China's crackdown on COVID demonstrators

Dazed and terrified, Yicheng Huang narrowly managed to escape being detained by police in Shanghai while attending historic protests calling for an end to China's COVID-19 curbs that spread across numerous cities last November. The protests, unprecedented in President Xi Jinping's decade in power, were suppressed by police within days but helped hasten the end of three years of restrictions, sources have previously told Reuters.