Reuters Health News Summary

Some 6,000 fewer Wegovy prescriptions were filled in the United States that week, but Novo maintained its lead for total weekly prescriptions over Zepbound by 25,307, according to the data published by JPMorgan in a weekly note. US FDA panel backs expanded use of J&J, Bristol Myers' CAR-T therapies Advisers to the U.S. health regulator voted in favor of allowing the use of Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb's cell therapies as earlier treatments on Friday, paving the way for their use in less severely affected patients with a type of blood cancer.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

US FDA expands use of Bristol Myers' cancer therapy (March 14)

(This March 14 story has been corrected to say third approval for treatment, not second approval, in paragraph 1, and to say the initial approval was in February 2021, not June 2022, in paragraph 2. Both errors were there in a previous version of the story) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday expanded the use of Bristol Myers Squibb's cell therapy, Breyanzi, for a type of slow-growing blood cancer, marking the third approval for the treatment.

US FDA panel votes in favor of expanded use of Bristol Myers' CAR-T therapy

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday voted in favor of allowing the use of Bristol Myers Squibb's cell therapy as an earlier treatment for a type of blood cancer. The panel voted 8-3 in favor that benefits of Bristol's Abecma outweighed the risks of the therapy when given as an earlier treatment.

U.N. agency in Gaza says one in three children under 2 is acutely malnourished

One in three children under age 2 in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished and famine is looming, the main U.N. agency operating in the Palestinian enclave said on Saturday. "Children's malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza," the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a social media post.

Blinken calls for closer global cooperation on tackling synthetic drugs

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called for greater international cooperation to fight the booming trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, the leading cause of overdose deaths in his country. He was speaking at an annual meeting of the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), which reviews global drug regulation and each year adds new so-called precursor chemicals - ingredients used to make illicit drugs - to international lists known as schedules to place strict controls on their trade.

Lilly weight-loss drug Zepbound new US prescriptions surpass Wegovy for first time

Eli Lilly’s powerful weight-loss drug Zepbound hit 77,590 new prescriptions in the U.S. for the week ending March 8, surpassing Novo Nordisk’s rival obesity medicine Wegovy for the first time since it was launched, according to data from IQVIA. Some 6,000 fewer Wegovy prescriptions were filled in the United States that week, but Novo maintained its lead for total weekly prescriptions over Zepbound by 25,307, according to the data published by JPMorgan in a weekly note.

US FDA panel backs expanded use of J&J, Bristol Myers' CAR-T therapies

Advisers to the U.S. health regulator voted in favor of allowing the use of Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb's cell therapies as earlier treatments on Friday, paving the way for their use in less severely affected patients with a type of blood cancer. While all 11 voting members of the panel unanimously agreed the benefits of J&J and Legend Biotech's Carvykti outweighed the risks of the therapy when given as an earlier treatment, only eight voted in favor of Bristol's Abecma.

Madrigal Pharma surges after drug wins first approval for fatty liver disease NASH

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares jumped as much as 23% on Friday after its oral drug became the first approved treatment for a fatty liver disease known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The drug, Rezdiffra, was approved by the U.S. health regulator on Thursday without the need for a liver biopsy for diagnosis, paving the way for wider acceptance and creating a blockbuster opportunity.

US agency urges interim payments for healthcare providers hit by UnitedHealth hack

The U.S. government said on Friday it has urged states to make interim payments to healthcare providers that were hit by the cyberattack at UnitedHealth's unit Change Healthcare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) new guidance allows states to start making interim payments retroactively to the date when claims payment processing was disrupted due to the cybersecurity incident, the federal health agency said.