Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Regeneron's blood cancer therapy faces setback as FDA raises trial concerns

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Monday the U.S. FDA has declined approval for its blood cancer therapy for two forms of lymphoma, raising concerns over the progress of ongoing confirmatory trials. In its so-called complete response letter (CRL), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it needed more data from enrollments in dose-finding and confirmatory portions of trials, delaying its decision on the drug.

BioNTech gets US agency notice over default on COVID vaccine royalties

BioNTech said on Monday the U.S. National Institutes of Health has sent a notice to the German company regarding default on the payment of royalties and other amounts related to its COVID-19 vaccine. BioNTech, which partnered with U.S. pharma giant Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccine, however, said it disagreed with the positions being taken by the NIH and intends to defend against all allegations of breach.

South Korea's medical professors join protests, reduce hours in practice

Medical professors in South Korea said they will cut back on the hours they spend in practice starting on Monday to support trainee doctors on strike for more than a month over a government plan to boost medical school admissions. "It is clear that increasing medical school admissions will not only ruin medical school education but cause our country's healthcare system to collapse," Kim Chang-soo, the president of the Medical Professors Association of Korea, told reporters.

Novo Nordisk strikes deal worth up to $1.1 billion to expand cardio business

Denmark's Novo Nordisk said on Monday it had agreed to buy Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to 1.03 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to strengthen its cardiovascular pipeline. The deal is in line with Novo's aim to expand its focus on diabetes and weight-loss therapies to include cardiovascular disease treatments.

AbbVie to buy Landos to expand pipeline of immunity-related illnesses

AbbVie said on Monday it would acquire drug developer Landos Biopharma for up to $212 million as the Humira-maker aims to expand its pipeline of medicines to treat immune system-related illnesses.

US Supreme Court abortion pill fight brings claims of distorted science

The abortion opponents who are seeking to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone point to three studies by Gynuity Health Projects, a New York-based women's health research group, to back up their arguments that it is unsafe despite its regulatory approval decades ago. But the way the research has been prominently cited by the plaintiffs in their bid to limit how the pill is prescribed and distributed is bewildering to Dr. Beverly Winikoff, Gynuity's president, given that the conclusions broadly support easier access to the medication.

Axsome's sleep disorder drug succeeds in late-stage trial, shares rise

Axsome Therapeutics said on Monday its experimental therapy cut the frequency of disruptive episodes of muscle weakness tied to a sleep disorder called narcolepsy in a late-stage trial. The New York-based company is looking to expand its reach in the market for treatments against the chronic neurological disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness and inadvertent naps.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)