Health News Roundup: UNICEF warns of food shortages at overcrowded Haiti camp; Indian drugmaker denies syrup exported to Liberia is toxic and more

Heavily armed gangs have expanded their turf and now control communities accounting for some two million people, according to U.N. estimates, mostly women and children living amid frequent extra-judicial killings and sexual violence. Weight loss drug Wegovy slower to launch in new markets - Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk's launch of obesity drug Wegovy in most of Europe will be slower than planned and the drug will likely not be sold in developing nations for a very long time, executives said on Tuesday, as demand booms in the United States.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Exact Sciences says its new colon cancer test shows 30% lower false positive rate

Exact Sciences said on Tuesday its next-generation screening test for colon cancer showed 30% lower false positive rate for detecting the disease in a study when compared to trial data on its already approved test. The company said it plans to complete submission of its marketing application for the new test to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of this year.

UNICEF warns of food shortages at overcrowded Haiti camp

Haitian children face a severe lack of food, medical support and education, the head of the United Nation's children's agency UNICEF said in the capital Port-au-Prince on Monday, hours after heavy shooting rang out near a packed camp of displaced persons. Heavily armed gangs have expanded their turf and now control communities accounting for some two million people, according to U.N. estimates, mostly women and children living amid frequent extra-judicial killings and sexual violence.

Weight loss drug Wegovy slower to launch in new markets - Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk's launch of obesity drug Wegovy in most of Europe will be slower than planned and the drug will likely not be sold in developing nations for a very long time, executives said on Tuesday, as demand booms in the United States. "Short term we are challenged because we cannot fully meet demand. But everyone can rest assured that we are strongly committed to make sure that patients over time will get the medicine they expect," Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told a news conference. Wegovy, which launched in the U.S. in mid-2021, has propelled the company to record sales and its current position as the third biggest pharma company globally by market capitalisation, according to Refinitiv data. A weekly injection of Wegovy leads to an average weight loss of around 15%, alongside changes to diet and exercise. Its impact is transforming the obesity market. But the Danish drugmaker is unable to keep up with demand even as it spends billions of dollars to increase its production capacity.

For groups fighting U.S. opioid crisis, settlement money can be hard to come by

Companies accused of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis have so far paid out more than $3 billion to compensate states, but has any of the money reached the people who need it? It depends where you live. Yes, if you're in Massachusetts; no, in Texas. A series of landmark settlements since 2021 with top drug distributors, pharmacies and drugmakers including Johnson & Johnson set compensation at a total of more than $50 billion nationwide.

Exclusive - Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths: letter

Gambia will make it mandatory for all pharmaceutical products from India to be inspected and tested prior to shipment from July 1, according to Gambian government documents reviewed by Reuters, the first known restrictions on national exports following the deaths of dozens of children linked to Indian-made cough syrups. The new rule highlights how governments are reassessing their reliance on India's $42 billion pharmaceutical industry since the contamination came to light last year. India's industry supplies nearly half of the pharmaceuticals used in Africa. In April, India's government said its officials had held meetings in Africa to ensure its drug exports did not suffer after at least 70 children died in Gambia after ingesting the cough syrup last year.

Merck's Keytruda fails to meet one main goal in gastric cancer trial

Merck & Co said on Tuesday its blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda failed to meet one of the two main goals in a late-stage study testing it as a treatment option for a type of advanced gastric cancer. The drug in combination with chemotherapy significantly reduced signs of cancer compared to chemotherapy alone, the company said.

Indian drugmaker denies syrup exported to Liberia is toxic

An Indian maker of a paracetamol syrup that Nigerian authorities have found toxic told Reuters on Tuesday that tests by a private Indian laboratory found them of "standard quality", as Indian authorities launch their own investigation. Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said in an alert last week that samples of the Indian-made paracetamol suspension, Para Clear, exported to Liberia last year contained the toxin ethylene glycol. It also failed the requirement for "acute oral toxicity with five deaths of the laboratory animals recorded", the agency said.

Eli Lilly boosts immunology business with $2.4 billion deal for Dice

Eli Lilly and Co will buy Dice Therapeutics Inc for about $2.4 billion in cash, the company said on Tuesday, bolstering its immune disease-related portfolio with an experimental pill to treat psoriasis. The company has been looking to bulk up its immunology pipeline, even as it bets on potential blockbuster obesity drug tirzepatide, also known as Mounjaro, to drive future growth.

U.S. Supreme Court revives South Carolina Planned Parenthood defunding case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a lower court ruling that blocked South Carolina from ending public funding to Planned Parenthood, giving the Republican-governed state another chance to defend its bid to deprive the reproductive healthcare and abortion provider of government money. The justices sent the case back to the lower court to reconsider the case in light of their 7-2 ruling on June 8 in a similar case from Indiana preserving an individual's right to sue government officials over alleged violations of rights created by federal programs that Congress enacts through its spending power, like the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor.

Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk sues spas over counterfeit drugs

Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk on Tuesday said it had sued some medical spas and wellness clinics in the United States for selling products claiming to contain semaglutide, the key ingredient in its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month warned in public guidance about the safety risks of unauthorized versions of Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss drugs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, in response to reports of adverse health reactions to the "compounded" or custom-made variations.