Health News Roundup: BioNTech predicts return to revenue growth in 2025; China approves Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi by Eisai and Biogen and more

The inherited condition, known as Stargardt disease, has no available treatments and is a leading genetic cause of blindness in children and young adults, with an estimated 30,000 people affected in the United States and more than 150,000 worldwide. Drugs group Sanofi makes Olympic jump in rebrand bid Sanofi is hoping that by sponsoring the Olympic Games it can attract new talent, reward existing staff and shake off the French drugmaker's conservative image.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Alkeus says its eye therapy halts progression of genetic disease

Privately held Alkeus Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday its experimental therapy halted disease progression in patients with early stages of a genetic eye condition that leads to blindness. The inherited condition, known as Stargardt disease, has no available treatments and is a leading genetic cause of blindness in children and young adults, with an estimated 30,000 people affected in the United States and more than 150,000 worldwide.

Drugs group Sanofi makes Olympic jump in rebrand bid

Sanofi is hoping that by sponsoring the Olympic Games it can attract new talent, reward existing staff and shake off the French drugmaker's conservative image. The 2024 Games has gained other new partners from the host nation France, including luxury goods giant LVMH and supermarket group Carrefour.

Novo CEO expects patients to stay on Wegovy longer than older weight loss drugs

Novo Nordisk's CEO said on Tuesday he expects patients will stick with the company's popular obesity drug Wegovy for far longer than those using older treatments. "We know from all medical interventions, stay time is not like a 100%... but I think we will see a significantly higher stay time than what we have seen so far on obesity treatment," said Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen at the JPMorgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco.

Ohio vote highlights intensified transgender rights battles across US

Ohio lawmakers are expected to vote on Wednesday whether to override the governor's veto of a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, one of the dozens of bills introduced this year to restrict transgender rights. In this presidential election year, the number of bills has already surpassed last year's record-setting pace, extending a contentious cultural debate in the United States. Democrats say transgender people and parents of transgender kids should determine treatment, as endorsed by the medical consensus, while Republicans portray that stance as medically radical and dangerous to children.

Gotham City accounting queries wipe $3 billion off Grifols value

Shares in Grifols fell by 30% on Tuesday, wiping nearly $3 billion off its market value, after hedge fund Gotham City Research questioned its accounting, prompting the Spanish drugmaker to "categorically" deny any wrongdoing. Gotham questioned Grifols' reported debt and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), and leverage ratio of 6.7 times. It said the leverage ratio is close to 10 to 13 times EBITDA.

GSK boosts respiratory portfolio with $1.4 billion Aiolos Bio deal

GSK on Tuesday said it would acquire asthma drug maker Aiolos Bio in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion, as the British drugmaker boosts its growing respiratory diseases portfolio. Founded in 2023, Aiolos is focused on developing therapies for respiratory and inflammatory conditions. It is currently developing 'AIO-001', a treatment for asthma which is ready to enter mid-stage clinical trials.

BioNTech predicts return to revenue growth in 2025

BioNTech said on Tuesday it expects to return to revenue growth in 2025 when the ongoing decline in its COVID-19 vaccine business would bottom out, and that it would invest to scale up its oncology business thereafter. The German biotech firm, which works with Pfizer on COVID shots, predicted total revenue of about 3 billion euros ($3.28 billion) for 2024, down from revenue of about 4 billion to 5 billion euros it had targeted for 2023.

Salmonella tests negative at Mexico cantaloupe plant amid outbreak -officials

Tests were negative for traces of salmonella at a cantaloupe-processing plant in Mexico amid an investigation into a deadly outbreak in the United States and Canada, Mexico said on Tuesday. Mexican health officials in December ordered the temporary closure of the plant in the northern state of Sonora and took samples from surfaces and water.

China approves Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi by Eisai and Biogen

Eisai and Biogen said on Tuesday that their Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi had won approval in China, the third country after the United States and Japan. The two companies are preparing to launch the drug in the second quarter of Eisai's 2024/25 business year starting in April.

US FDA declines to approve Astellas' gastric cancer drug

Japan's Astellas Pharma said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined to approve its experimental drug to treat a type of gastric cancer, citing issues related to a third-party manufacturer. The FDA has not raised any concerns related to the clinical data, and is not requesting additional clinical studies, Astellas said.