Health News Roundup: EU, Pfizer/BioNTech announce amendment to COVID vaccine contract; Elon Musk's Neuralink says has FDA approval for study of brain implants in humans and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

EU, Pfizer/BioNTech announce amendment to COVID vaccine contract

The European Union and drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said on Friday they had reached a deal to amend a COVID-19 vaccine contract, cutting the number the EU must buy and pushing the delivery deadline to 2026. The agreement, first reported by Reuters earlier on Friday, comes after months of talks and amid pressure on Brussels from EU governments to secure a change to the contract because of a global glut of COVID-19 vaccine doses and low demand for boosters. Some European governments have destroyed doses.

Elon Musk's Neuralink says has FDA approval for study of brain implants in humans

Elon Musk's brain-implant company Neuralink on Thursday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the green light to its first-in-human clinical trial, a critical milestone after earlier struggles to gain approval. The FDA nod "represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people," Neuralink said in a tweet. It did not elaborate on the aims of the study, saying only that it was not recruiting yet and more details would be available soon.

South Africa cholera outbreak re-ignites anger over service delivery

When a cholera outbreak was confirmed in Hammanskraal, just north of South Africa's capital Pretoria, it was hardly a surprise to many of its residents queuing up for handouts of bottles of clean water and soap. "If you drink the (tap) water, your stomach is running," Joyce Tshweau, 51, said, after braving the long line for the clean water meant to help curb an epidemic that has already killed 21 people.

Two US citizens dead after catching meningitis in Mexico hospital

Two U.S. citizens died after contracting meningitis while getting treatment in a hospital in the northern Mexican border city of Matamoros, authorities said on Thursday, as they investigated some 400 suspected cases. "A contamination caused these deaths," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a regular press conference when asked about reports of 10 deaths and 300-400 people being possibly affected by a contamination in hospitals at Matamoros, a city across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

France confirms bird flu vaccination after favourable tests

France confirmed its aim to launch a vaccination programme against bird flu in the autumn after results from a series of tests on the vaccination of ducks showed "satisfactory effectiveness", the farm ministry said. A severe strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has ravaged poultry production around the world, leading to the culling of over 200 million birds in the past 18 months.

Stars at Cannes take break from red carpet to support AIDS research

Celebrities including Queen Latifah, Jeffrey Wright and Heidi Klum escaped the Cannes Film Festival's crowded Croisette Boulevard for a night to attend a fundraiser for AIDS research at a secluded luxury hotel in the nearby resort town of Antibes.

"I wanted to be here tonight because I think it's such a beautiful charity and just to be able to do what I can," said Bebe Rexha, one of the stars performing at the Thursday event.

AstraZeneca's drug combo shows positive results in late-stage cancer trial

AstraZeneca said on Friday a combination of its cancer drugs Imfinzi and Lynparza when added to platinum-based chemotherapy showed positive results in a late-stage trial in patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. The treatment followed by either Imfinzi plus Lynparza or Imfinzi alone as maintenance therapy showed a statistically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to standard-of-care chemotherapy, the British drugmaker said.

Moderna says looking for opportunities in China after registering legal entity

Vaccine maker Moderna Inc said on Friday it was looking for opportunities in China after confirming that it had registered a legal entity in the world's second largest economy.

The U.S. biotech firm registered a unit called Moderna (China) Biotech Ltd in Shanghai on May. 24 with capital of $100 million, according to Chinese data providers including company database Qichacha.

EU regulator recommends revoking authorisation for Novartis' sickle cell drug

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday it had recommended revoking marketing authorisation for Novartis' sickle cell disease drug Adakveo. The recommendation follows a review by EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) that concluded the benefits of the drug did not outweigh risks, according to the regulator.

Pfizer's COVID antiviral Paxlovid gains full US approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday granted full approval to Pfizer's oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, clearing the way for the drugmaker to sell it at market rates once U.S. government supplies dwindle. Paxlovid initially received emergency use authorization from the FDA in late 2021, when there was a desperate need for effective COVID treatments. The agency on Thursday approved the two-drug therapy to treat adults at high risk of progression to severe disease.

(With inputs from agencies.)