Health News Roundup: BioNTech vaccine hearing postponed after petition to change judge; Novo Nordisk invests $2.3 billion in Danish production facility and more

Along with Malta, Poland's anti-abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe, and the country enforced a near total ban on terminations in 2021, sparking mass protests. Catalent shares jump as long-delayed results clear 'low bar' Catalent's shares shot up 12% on Monday as the contract drug manufacturer posted third-quarter revenue ahead of estimates after a long delay caused by persistent production issues at its major facilities.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novo Nordisk invests $2.3 billion in Danish production facility

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will invest 15.9 billion Danish crowns ($2.29 billion) to expand a production facility in Denmark for products to treat serious chronic diseases, the company said in a statement on Monday. The existing facility produces active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), the main biologically active components of medicines, and will be expanded to produce material for both current and future products.

Novartis buys Chinook for $3.5 billion in race to treat rare kidney disease

Novartis said it has agreed to acquire U.S. biotech firm Chinook Therapeutics for up to $3.5 billion to boost its late-stage drug development line-up, raising the stakes in the race for a rare kidney disease treatment. Seattle-based Chinook's shareholders will receive $3.2 billion, or $40 per share, in cash under the agreed deal, plus a contingent value right worth up to $300 million, depending on certain regulatory achievements, Novartis said on Monday.

Biogen rises as FDA panel backs Alzheimer's drug, easing safety concerns

Biogen's shares rose 2% on Monday as a unanimous backing of its Alzheimer's drug by the U.S. health regulator's advisers strengthened the case for a traditional approval with no major new safety warnings. The Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel unanimously agreed that a late-stage trial of the drug Leqembi, developed with partner Eisai, verified the benefit of treatment for those at an early stage of the disease.

BioNTech vaccine hearing postponed after petition to change judge

The first hearing in a German court case against BioNTech over side effects allegedly caused by its COVID-19 vaccine was postponed on Monday after the plaintiff's lawyer petitioned for the case to be heard by different judges.The lawyer Tobias Ulbrich of law firm Rogert & Ulbrich asked for the case to be heard by a group of judges and for the currently-assigned single judge to be recused for bias, Ulbrich and a spokesperson for the regional court in Hamburg told Reuters separately. The court in the northern city of Hamburg said a decision on the request would take a matter of days, without providing a new date for a hearing.

Polish hospital should have offered abortion to save woman's life, says ombudsman

A Polish hospital should have told a woman who later died that terminating her pregnancy could save her life, an ombudsman said on Monday, amid anger over a case that has thrust the country's strict abortion laws back into the spotlight. Along with Malta, Poland's anti-abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe, and the country enforced a near total ban on terminations in 2021, sparking mass protests.

Catalent shares jump as long-delayed results clear 'low bar'

Catalent's shares shot up 12% on Monday as the contract drug manufacturer posted third-quarter revenue ahead of estimates after a long delay caused by persistent production issues at its major facilities. The company reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and cut its annual revenue forecast for the second time, but strength in its biologics unit drove quarterly sales past tempered Wall Street estimates.

COVID shots should target XBB variants in 2023-24 campaign, US FDA staff say

COVID-19 vaccines being developed and manufactured for the 2023-2024 campaign should target one of the currently dominant XBB variants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) staff reviewers said on Monday. The comments were made in documents posted ahead of Thursday's meeting of a panel of FDA's independent experts, who are expected to make recommendations on what strain an updated COVID-19 booster should target.