Health News Roundup: BioNTech vaccine hearing postponed after petition to change judge; Biden admin finalizes deal preserving preventive healthcare coverage during legal challenge and more

The agreement, first disclosed on Friday and now finalized in a filing in the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, leaves the mandate in place nationwide while the administration appeals a court order striking it down. 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.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Britain's COVID-19 inquiry hears government was under-prepared

Britain's government was under-prepared and failed to anticipate measures needed to protect the vulnerable, an official inquiry heard on Tuesday, as its chair pledged to put the bereaved at the heart of her work. Former prime minister Boris Johnson ordered the investigation after Britain recorded one of the world's highest death tolls. More than 175,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus had been reported by the time Johnson stood down in July last year.

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.

Macron unveils plans to relocate production of key drugs to France

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday unveiled plans to relocate the production of key medicines to France to tackle shortages of imported products, ranging from antibiotics to paracetamol, that came into focus during the COVID epidemic. Macron, who was visiting pharmaceutical laboratories in the Ardeche region, said the government had drawn up a list of 450 molecules for which it was key to secure supply chains.

France to invest $35 million in South Asian healthcare-focused private equity

Proparco, a unit of France's state development agency, is making a $35 million equity investment in Quadria Capital, an Asia healthcare-focused private equity firm, the companies said on Tuesday, to develop health care facilities in the region. Quadria Capital aims to fill the gap between growing demand for healthcare and an "insufficient" healthcare infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia, Proparco, unit of Agence Française de Développement Group, said in a statement.

AstraZeneca turns to cows to cut U.S. carbon footprint

Drugmaker AstraZeneca is switching to biogas produced from cow manure and food waste in the United States, it said on Tuesday, in a deal to cut its carbon emissions there. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said the long-term agreement with Massachusetts-based Vanguard Renewables would enable it to transition to biogas from natural gas and cut its emissions across its U.S. research and manufacturing sites.

Childhood vaccine rates show signs of recovery after pandemic backslide - Gavi

Childhood immunisation rates began to recover last year in the world's poorest countries after being badly hit by COVID-19 disruptions, according to the global vaccine alliance Gavi. Last year, 80% of children got their diptheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine, known as DTP3, according to early data from Gavi. That compares to 78% in 2020 and 77% in 2021. Before the pandemic hit, coverage rates had reached 82%.

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.

European Alzheimer's experts unconvinced by new Eisai, Biogen drug

Alzheimer's disease experts in Europe weighing potential use of a new drug from Eisai and Biogen say its ability to slow cognitive decline may not outweigh its health risks, or be worth the toll on scarce healthcare resources. Lecanemab, branded Leqembi in the U.S., is under regulatory review in Europe and likely poised for traditional U.S. approval next month based on trial data showing it slowed cognitive decline by 27% in patients with early Alzheimer's.

Biden admin finalizes deal preserving preventive healthcare coverage during legal challenge

The Biden administration on Monday finalized a deal to preserve the federal mandate requiring U.S. health insurers to cover preventive care like cancer screenings and HIV-preventing medication at no extra cost to patients while a legal challenge continues. The agreement, first disclosed on Friday and now finalized in a filing in the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, leaves the mandate in place nationwide while the administration appeals a court order striking it down.

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.