Health News Roundup: Mask mandates return at some US hospitals as COVID, flu jump; France detects bird flu on vaccinated ducks farm and more

Novo, a Danish drugmaker whose share price rose 49% last year due to soaring demand for its weight-loss medicine Wegovy, said the partnerships with Omega Therapeutics and Cellarity Inc could lead to new treatments for people living with obesity and a type of liver disease known as MASH.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Merck seeks GLP-1 drugs with benefits beyond weight loss - CEO

Merck & Co is seeking GLP-1 treatments with benefits beyond weight loss, CEO Robert Davis said on Thursday at a conference. Newer diabetes and weight-loss drugs of the GLP-1 class like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound are expected to together generate annual sales of over $100 billion by the end of the decade.

CVS will remove AbbVie's Humira from some drug reimbursement lists in April

CVS Health said on Wednesday it will remove AbbVie's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira from some of its lists of preferred drugs for reimbursement as of April 1, and will recommend biosimilar versions of the medicine instead. CVS said Hyrimoz and an unbranded version of Humira, both from Swiss drugmaker Sandoz, will be covered across all its formularies, while branded and unbranded near copies of the drug from India's Biocon will be covered on some reimbursement lists.

Elevance's deal to buy Paragon Healthcare valued at over $1 billion - Axios

Elevance Health will buy private firm Paragon Healthcare for more than $1 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter, Axios reported on Thursday. The health insurer had said earlier on Thursday it would acquire Paragon Healthcare, but did not disclose the financials of the deal.

France detects bird flu on vaccinated ducks farm

France has detected bird flu on a duck farm in the Vendee region in the west of the country, the farm ministry said on its website, the first such outbreak since France started vaccinating against the virus last year. The Vendee prefecture said highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, had been detected on Tuesday on a farm with 8,700 ducks in the town of Notre Dame de Riez. All of them had been vaccinated, it said.

Mask mandates return at some US hospitals as COVID, flu jump

Hospitals in at least four U.S. states have reinstated mask mandates amid a rise in cases of COVID, seasonal flu and other respiratory illness. Healthcare facilities in New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts have made masks mandatory among patients and providers.

COVID-19 treatment developer Humanigen files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Drug developer Humanigen has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a court filing, after struggling to get regulatory approval for its COVID-19 treatment. The Burlingame, California-based company, once controlled by convicted pharma executive Martin Shkreli, listed assets worth $521,000 and total debt of $44.1 million, as per the Jan.3 filing.

New York could be first state to offer prenatal paid leave to mothers

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday proposed offering pregnant women 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments, which she said would make New York the first state in the U.S. to offer such benefits. The proposal was part of a six-point plan to improve maternal and neonatal health at a time when U.S. maternal mortality rates are growing with each generation and the country has fallen way behind other developed nations.

Lilly launches website, home delivery option for weight-loss drug

Eli Lilly and Co on Thursday launched a website to enable people to directly order from the drugmaker including its weight-loss medicine Zepbound as well as connect people with obesity and other conditions with telehealth companies. The service, called LillyDirect, comes on the back on extraordinary demand seen over the last year for powerful weight-loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

Consumer Reports has found that plastics retain a "widespread" presence in food despite the health risks, and called on regulators to reassess the safety of plastics that come into contact with food during production. The non-profit consumer group said on Thursday that 84 out of 85 supermarket foods and fast foods it recently tested contained "plasticizers" known as phthalates, a chemical used to make plastic more durable.

Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk enters research tie-ups with US biotech firms

Blockbuster weight-loss drug maker Novo Nordisk announced on Thursday research collaborations with two U.S. biotech firms, part of its efforts to stay ahead in big pharma's race to develop more treatments for cardiometabolic diseases. Novo, a Danish drugmaker whose share price rose 49% last year due to soaring demand for its weight-loss medicine Wegovy, said the partnerships with Omega Therapeutics and Cellarity Inc could lead to new treatments for people living with obesity and a type of liver disease known as MASH.