Health News Roundup: US approves Lilly weight-loss drug, will compete with Novo's Wegovy; Novo Nordisk to discontinue Levemir insulin in U.S. market and more

It has been available as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes since 2022 and had increasingly been used "off-label" for weight loss while the obesity approval was pending. Factbox-What to know about Eli Lilly's new obesity drug The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly's keenly-awaited obesity treatment on Wednesday, introducing a powerful rival to Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss therapy Wegovy.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

US Senate confirms Monica Bertagnolli as NIH director

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm President Joe Biden's pick to run the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, filling the director spot at the country's top medical research agency after a vacancy of almost two years. Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon, was approved by a bipartisan 62 to 26 vote. The NIH had been without a director since December 2021, when former director Francis Collins retired, ending a 12-year reign.

Abortion rights advocates, Democrats score wins in US elections

Democrats and abortion rights advocates notched a string of electoral victories on Tuesday, including in conservative Ohio and Kentucky, an early signal that reproductive rights remain a potent issue for Democrats ahead of the 2024 presidential race. In Ohio, a state that voted for Republican Donald Trump by 8 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election, voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights, Edison Research projected.

US approves Lilly weight-loss drug, will compete with Novo's Wegovy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Eli Lilly's weight loss treatment, giving the U.S. drugmaker official entry into a lucrative market that has captured Wall Street's enthusiasm this year. The FDA approved tirzepatide for weight loss under the brand name Zepbound. It has been available as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes since 2022 and had increasingly been used "off-label" for weight loss while the obesity approval was pending.

Factbox-What to know about Eli Lilly's new obesity drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly's keenly-awaited obesity treatment on Wednesday, introducing a powerful rival to Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss therapy Wegovy. The once-weekly injection, which contains the same active ingredient as Lilly's big-selling type 2 diabetes treatment Mounjaro, will be sold under the brand name Zepbound. The following are key facts about the drug based on the FDA-approved label for its use and clinical trial data:

Gaza health crisis deepens for the chronically ill as war intensifies

Tahreer Azzam, a nurse at Makassed Hospital in east Jerusalem, has been caring for young, desperately-ill Palestinian patients for 16 years. Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last month, she now struggles to find them.

Tuberculosis fight recovering from COVID-19 knock but still off target- WHO

The global fight against tuberculosis (TB), badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, is beginning to recover but remains a long way off target, according to a World Health Organization report. During the first two years of the pandemic, there were around 4 million “missing” TB patients per year, meaning people who developed TB but who were not diagnosed or treated. That gap narrowed to around 3.1 million in 2022, the U.N. agency’s annual report estimated, back to the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

UK's MHRA authorises Lilly's Mounjaro for weight loss

Britain's health regulator on Wednesday authorised Eli Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro for weight management and weight loss in the UK, hours after a similar approval in the United States. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved the drug for adults aged 18 and over and added that the medicine is to be used together with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.

Novo Nordisk to discontinue Levemir insulin in U.S. market

Novo Nordisk said on Wednesday it would discontinue its long-acting insulin Levemir in the United States, citing manufacturing constraints, reduced patient access and available alternatives. The Danish drugmaker said supply disruptions would start in mid-January, followed by discontinuation of the Levemir injection pen in April and of Levemir vials by the end of 2024.

Factbox-Corporate America weighs business impact of new weight-loss drugs

U.S. companies across sectors such as food and beverage makers and manufacturers of glucose monitors are facing investor questions over the risk to future sales from the growing popularity of promising weight-loss treatments. Drugs in a class known as GLP-1 such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic as well as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro have been shown to help control blood sugar and dramatically lower weight in clinical trials.

Syphilis cases in US newborns rise 10-fold over a decade

The number of newborns with syphilis in the United States surged more than 10-fold in the last decade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Tuesday. The agency said 3,761 cases were recorded in 2022, the highest in over 30 years, up from 334 cases in 2012. The 2022 cases included 231 stillbirths and 51 infant deaths.

(With inputs from agencies.)