Health News Roundup: Rebound in travel helps vaccine maker Valneva post smaller-than-expected loss; Novo Nordisk cuts some US supply of obesity drug Wegovy to cope with demand and more

The medical device maker joins peers Stryker Corp and Abbott Laboratories, which have raised their full-year forecasts on the easing of staffing shortages and recovery in medical procedures volumes. Novo Nordisk rivals see room to compete in $100 billion weight-loss drug market The enormous demand for weight-loss treatments like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy could support as many as 10 competing products with annual sales reaching up to $100 billion within a decade, mostly in the United States, industry executives and analysts said.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Rebound in travel helps vaccine maker Valneva post smaller-than-expected loss

French vaccine maker Valneva reported on Thursday a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss as sales of travel vaccines Dukoral and Ixiaro improved, propelling its shares 16% up. Valneva also confirmed its sales outlook for 2023, with revenue expected between 220 million euros and 260 million euros.

Novo Nordisk cuts some US supply of obesity drug Wegovy to cope with demand

Danish drug developer Novo Nordisk said it would have to halve the supply of starter doses of its popular Wegovy weight-loss drug in the United States to cope with high demand after reporting forecast-beating results on Thursday. Shares in Novo Nordisk traded down 4.7% at 0731 GMT, putting a small dent in a rise of more than 140% since the firm launched Wegovy in the U.S. in June 2021. The company's stock is the best performing in Europe.

WHO experts weigh up whether world ready to end COVID emergency

A panel of global health experts will meet on Thursday to decide if COVID-19 is still an emergency under the World Health Organization's rules, a status that helps maintain international focus on the pandemic. The WHO first gave COVID its highest level of alert on January 30 2020, and the panel has continued to apply the label ever since, at meetings held every three months.

Regeneron's Eylea drug sales sag under tough competition

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's first-quarter sales of blockbuster eye drug Eylea came in below Wall Street targets on Thursday as competition heats up, sending the company's shares down 4% in premarket trade. Eylea has been a key growth driver for the drugmaker for years but its sales have fallen over the past few quarters, partly due to rising competition from Roche's Vabysmo since the rival secured U.S. approval last year.

Novo Nordisk: U.S. is priority for weight-loss drug over new markets

Novo Nordisk is prioritising U.S. supplies of its popular weight-loss drug Wegovy over launching in new markets, a senior executive told Reuters on Thursday, as the Danish drugmaker struggles to keep up with skyrocketing demand there. Wegovy has been flying off the shelves in the United States since its launch in June 2021, but the company has been unable to keep up with demand even as it has added production capacity.

Becton Dickinson raises 2023 profit forecast as demand rebounds

Becton Dickinson and Co on Thursday raised its full-year profit forecast and beat estimates for the second-quarter results on strong demand for its drug delivery devices and surgical equipment. The medical device maker joins peers Stryker Corp and Abbott Laboratories, which have raised their full-year forecasts on the easing of staffing shortages and recovery in medical procedures volumes.

Novo Nordisk rivals see room to compete in $100 billion weight-loss drug market

The enormous demand for weight-loss treatments like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy could support as many as 10 competing products with annual sales reaching up to $100 billion within a decade, mostly in the United States, industry executives and analysts said. More than half a dozen companies, from Pfizer Inc and Amgen Inc to smaller players like Altimmune Inc, are working on weight-loss therapies similar to Wegovy, viewing them as important future growth drivers. Novo was first to introduce an effective treatment shown to help people lose up to 15% of their weight. Eli Lilly and Co is expected to receive a U.S. weight loss approval for its similar drug, Mounjaro, later this year. Both treatments are given by weekly injection and belong to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes. In addition to controlling blood sugar, they affect hunger signals to the brain and slow the rate at which a person's stomach empties, making them feel full longer. Would-be rivals see room for treatments that are more convenient or provide additional health benefits. Even a small share of the market could be worth billions. "We're going full guns on this," said Bill Sessa, chief scientific officer at Pfizer's Internal Medicine Research Unit. "If we can accelerate, we will." The company has two oral GLP-1 drugs in mid-stage trials, and aims to choose one for a late-stage trial this year. An obesity therapy "is going to be one of the main drugs for Pfizer moving forward," Sessa said. Over 650 million adults worldwide are obese, more than triple the rate in 1975, and roughly another 1.3 billion are overweight, exacerbating conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, according to the World Health Organization.

US FDA approves first RSV vaccine from GSK

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved GSK Plc's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, the British drugmaker said on Wednesday, making it the first shot to be cleared for protection against a common respiratory disease that can be fatal for older people. The vaccine, Arexvy, was approved for people aged 60 and older, the company said.

Lilly drug slows Alzheimer's by 35%, bolstering treatment approach

An experimental Alzheimer's drug developed by Eli Lilly and Co slowed cognitive decline by 35% in a late-stage trial, the company said on Wednesday, providing what experts say is the strongest evidence yet that removing sticky amyloid plaques from the brain benefits patients with the fatal disease. Lilly's drug, donanemab, met all goals of the trial, the company said. It slowed progression of Alzheimer's by 35% compared to a placebo in 1,182 people with early-stage disease whose brains had deposits of two key Alzheimer's proteins, beta amyloid as well as intermediate levels of tau, a protein linked with disease progression and brain cell death.

CVS Health to pause M&A and focus on integration

CVS Health Corp said on Wednesday it would pause its recent acquisition spree as it focuses on integrating purchases of healthcare service provider Signify Health and primary care provider Oak Street Health. CVS, which has a large retail pharmacy chain, and major health insurance and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) units, like other healthcare rivals has been looking to broaden the services it offers.