Reuters Health News Summary

To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here) An experimental immunotherapy drug is a potentially effective treatment for patients with bladder cancer who no longer respond to current therapies, researchers reported on Thursday at the Society of Urologic Oncology meeting in Dallas. Healthcare industry rethinks risk after murder of UnitedHealth exec Health insurance companies are reassessing the risks for their top executives after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday in Manhattan, with both UnitedHealth and rival CVS Health removing photos of their leadership teams from their websites after the shooting.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

FDA chief defends work on obesity, food to US Senate as agency awaits fierce critic RFK Jr

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf defended the agency's role in addressing the country's obesity epidemic as he was grilled by senators over FDA regulation of the food and beverage industry on Thursday. The hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions follows President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the country's top health agency. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has also said those at the agency in charge of nutrition labels on food have "to go".

Killer of UnitedHealth's Thompson still at large amid manhunt in New York

New York police released new photos on Thursday showing the face of the man suspected of gunning down UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan, with the shooter still at large nearly 36 hours after authorities launched a citywide manhunt to track him down. Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance unit, was shot from behind early on Wednesday morning in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant. It came just before the company's annual investor conference at the Hilton on Sixth Avenue.

Novo Holdings' $16.5 billion Catalent buy wins EU antitrust approval

Novo Holdings on Friday gained unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $16.5 bln acquisition of U.S. contract drug maker Catalent after EU regulators said they did not see any competition issues. Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which makes the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, said it now expects to close the deal by year end.

Exclusive-US issues order mandating bird flu testing of milk supply

The U.S. issued a federal order on Friday mandating that the national milk supply be tested for bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters, as authorities seek to grapple with rapid spread of the virus among dairy herds. Bird flu has infected more than 500 dairy herds in top milk state California, and more than 700 nationwide since March, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, raising concerns of the impact to farmers and the milk supply as well as the risk to human health from ongoing spread.

Health Rounds: Experimental CG Oncology immunotherapy shows promise in bladder cancer

(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here) An experimental immunotherapy drug is a potentially effective treatment for patients with bladder cancer who no longer respond to current therapies, researchers reported on Thursday at the Society of Urologic Oncology meeting in Dallas.

Healthcare industry rethinks risk after murder of UnitedHealth exec

Health insurance companies are reassessing the risks for their top executives after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday in Manhattan, with both UnitedHealth and rival CVS Health removing photos of their leadership teams from their websites after the shooting. UnitedHealthcare, part of UnitedHealth Group, is the biggest U.S. insurer. CVS operates Aetna, another top insurer.

WHO sends experts to help Congo diagnose mystery disease

The World Health Organization said on Friday it is deploying experts to support health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate an as-yet undiagnosed disease linked to multiple deaths in a remote area of the country. The WHO experts are on their way to Panzi, a locality in the southwestern Kwango province, where they will deliver essential medicines and diagnostic kits to help analyse the cause of the illness.

Health insurer shares fall after UnitedHealth exec murder

Shares of health insurance companies including UnitedHealth Group continued to fall on Friday, two days after Brian Thompson, the CEO of the company's health insurance unit, was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel by a gunman lying in wait. The shooter is still at large and his motive for the attack has not been determined, police officials say.

Lilly invests $3 billion to expand Wisconsin plant as obesity drug demand soars

Eli Lilly said on Thursday it will invest $3 billion to expand the manufacturing plant it bought in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin earlier this year, as it scrambles to meet soaring demand for its weight-loss and diabetes drugs. The new investment in the factory, which it acquired from Nexus Pharmaceuticals, will help boost production of Lilly's powerful weight-loss drug Zepbound as well as its diabetes treatments and other medicines, the company said.

BioAge scraps mid-stage trial of experimental obesity drug, shares fall

BioAge Labs said on Friday it is discontinuing the mid-stage trial of its experimental obesity drug after high levels of certain liver enzymes were observed in some patients, sending its shares down nearly 73% to $5.40 in after-market trading. The drug developer was studying the experimental drug, azelaprag, as a monotherapy and in combination with Eli Lilly's tirzepatide.

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