Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Some US medical schools to teach nutrition under government deal

About a fourth of U.S. medical schools will expand their nutrition education offerings this autumn as part of a deal with the administration of President Donald Trump, said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday. Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have pursued the deal as part of Trump's ​Make America Healthy Again agenda, which promotes healthy eating and has also underpinned Kennedy's actions to overhaul federal vaccine policy.

South Africa seeks local production of Gilead's HIV prevention drug

South Africa is asking local drugmakers to start a process to make Gilead Sciences' long-acting ​HIV prevention drug, lenacapavir, domestically, in a push to bring production to the region where it is most needed. The government is working alongside international partners, including Unitaid and the United States ‌Pharmacopoeia, to identify ​which local company could make the twice-yearly injection safely, effectively and affordably, and provide any support needed. They will then recommend that company to Gilead.

Tenaya Therapeutics inks $1.13 billion deal with Alnylam for heart-disease treatments

Tenaya Therapeutics said on Thursday it has signed a research deal with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals worth up to $1.13 billion to develop treatments for heart diseases. Shares of Tenaya were up more than 11% in premarket trading.

Merck KGaA sees earnings drop on currency effects, MS drug

Germany's Merck KGaA projected 2026 adjusted operating profit to slip by as much as 9.8%, hurt by negative currency effects and the loss of patent protection for a multiple sclerosis drug. This year's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for special items, would likely be between 5.5 billion and 6.0 billion euros ($6.4 to $7 billion), it said in a statement on Thursday.

CVS taps Google Cloud to roll out ‌AI-powered health platform

CVS Health will launch an AI-enabled platform in partnership with Alphabet's Google Cloud unit that will bring together data from diverse sources to help customers manage their health in real time, they said on Thursday. Health100 will be an integrated health care engagement platform for customers, regardless of the pharmacy or insurer they use. The initial launch of Health100 will be in 2026, with details expected to be revealed at The Check Up, Google's annual health event later in March.

Autism researchers form independent committee as counter to Kennedy-appointed group

Autism researchers and advocacy leaders on Tuesday said they would form a new, independent committee to help guide autism research priorities, providing a science-based alternative to official U.S. information on the condition. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remade a federal panel that guides national autism policy, called the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. Its newly appointed 21 members include some with ties to groups that promote claims linking vaccines to autism, contrary to scientific evidence, as Kennedy himself has for years.

US CDC deploys staff to curb South Carolina's measles outbreak

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff will arrive in South Carolina next week to help the state contain the largest measles outbreak in the country in ‌decades, a state official said in a briefing on Wednesday. The first CDC on the ground assist comes some five months after the South Carolina outbreak began.

FDA official calls UniQure's Huntington's disease treatment a failure

A senior FDA official called UniQure's experimental treatment for Huntington's disease a "failed product" in a conference call with media members on Thursday, casting further doubt on the prospects of the gene therapy. The Dutch drugmaker said on Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had called for a new study to support the approval of its gene therapy for the rare, inherited neurodegenerative ‌disorder, and rejected its most recent trial for not including participants given a placebo.

Sino Biopharm unit licenses blood cancer drug to Sanofi for up to $1.53 billion

Hong Kong-listed Sino Biopharmaceutical said on Wednesday its unit has signed an exclusive global licensing deal with French drugmaker Sanofi worth up to $1.53 billion, giving the European pharma giant rights to a blood cancer drug that won Chinese regulatory approval last month. Under the agreement, Sino Biopharmaceutical's subsidiary Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group will grant Sanofi an exclusive worldwide licence to develop, manufacture and commercialise rovadicitinib, receiving an upfront payment of $135 million.

Lilly launches employer-connect platform to broaden weight-loss drug access

Eli Lilly said on Thursday it has rolled out a platform to help employers connect with organizations offering low-cost benefits and comprehensive obesity-care programs, aiming to widen access to its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound. Through the Lilly Employer Connect platform, its multi-dose weight-loss drug device Zepbound KwikPen will be available to network pharmacies at a discounted price of $449 for all doses

US FDA puts partial clinical hold on PepGen's muscle disease drug trial

PepGen said on Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has placed a partial clinical hold on its mid-stage trial of a rare muscle disease drug, sending its shares plunging over 25% in extended trading. The drug, PGN-EDODM1, is being tested for myotonic dystrophy type 1, a genetic disease that causes muscles to weaken and tighten over time, making movement and daily activities harder.

Eli Lilly on track to launch oral obesity ⁠drug in second quarter, pending US ​approval

Eli Lilly CFO Lucas Montarce said on Monday it is preparing to launch its new oral obesity drug, orforglipron, in the United States as early as ⁠the second quarter of this year, once it gets approval from the Food and Drug Administration. "On track in the US, expect to see potentially that product coming into the market as early as Q2," Montarce said at the TD Cowen healthcare conference.

US FDA approves Johnson & Johnson's blood cancer drug after speedy review

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Johnson & Johnson's treatment for a type of blood cancer, making it the third drug cleared under the agency's new speedy review program. The health regulator approved the use of Tecvayli in combination with Johnson & Johnson's Darzalex in patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy.

Galderma gives better than expected 2026 guidance, shares rise

Shares of Swiss ⁠skincare company Galderma opened higher on Thursday after it reported 17.7% growth in full-year net sales and gave an upbeat guidance for 2026. The annual net sales were $5.21 billion, with the strongest growth coming from its Therapeutic Dermatology business, where sales grew more than 50% largely thanks to the recently launched Nemluvio product, which is used to treat chronic skin conditions atopic dermatitis and prurigo nodularis.

GLP-1 drugs protect against new or worsening addictions, large study shows

Ozempic, Mounjaro and other GLP-1 drugs for diabetes can prevent new substance use disorders and alleviate existing addictions, according to findings from a large study of U.S. military veterans. The protective effect was seen across a wide variety of addictive and ​habit-forming substances, including cocaine, opioids, alcohol, nicotine and cannabis, adding further evidence to a phenomenon previously flagged in smaller studies.

Moderna rises on $2.25 billion settlement, clearing COVID vaccine patent dispute overhang

Moderna shares rose 9% on Wednesday after it settled a long-running legal battle over the technology that made its COVID-19 vaccine possible, removing an overhang and allowing it to focus on its pipeline. Analysts noted the settlement, which involves paying up to $2.25 billion to a Roivant Sciences' Genevant subsidiary, and Arbutus Biopharma, would shift investor focus back to Moderna's cancer ⁠vaccines under development.

US FDA's operations chief to retire, 30-year agency veteran to succeed

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's top operations official, Barclay Butler, will retire from federal service, and 30-year agency veteran Melanie Keller is set to take his place next month, according to an internal email seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Butler, who has served for about a year as the FDA's deputy commissioner for operations and chief operating officer, plans to retire in the coming months, the email said.

Health Rounds: Laser treatment before immunotherapy helps brain cancer patients live longer

Adding a minimally invasive laser procedure to immunotherapy achieved dramatically improved survival in a small study of patients with recurrent high-grade astrocytoma, an aggressive brain cancer with few treatment options. High-grade astrocytoma almost always returns after surgery. Patients ⁠with recurrent ​disease typically live another four to five months.

Kennedy's new US autism panel to examine potential causes

A U.S. autism advisory board remade by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to include vaccine skeptics aims to steer federal research spending toward investigating causes of the condition, as well as other issues like co-occurring medical disorders, according to some new panel members. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has suggested the inoculations cause autism, contrary to scientific evidence, reset the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee in January with 21 new public members. More than a third of the new committee members have also promoted the debunked link between vaccines and autism.

Exclusive-US postpones third consecutive meeting of preventive health panel

The March meeting of the U.S. advisory panel that determines what cancer screenings and other preventive health measures insurers must cover has been postponed, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 16-member U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which usually holds three annual meetings, last met in March of 2025. Its November 2025 meeting did not take place due to a government shutdown. The previous meeting, set for July 2025, was abruptly canceled by HHS.

Britain launches bird flu vaccine ⁠trials in turkeys

Britain has begun targeted bird flu vaccine trials in turkeys, the government said on Thursday, marking a shift in its approach to controlling the disease that has ravaged flocks and pushed some countries to adopt the technique to help reduce losses. The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is a concern for governments and the poultry industry due to the devastation it can cause to flocks, its impact on food prices and a risk of a new pandemic.

China to build 'birth-friendly society', refine social security system

China said ⁠on Thursday it would build a "childbirth-friendly society" in the next five years, pledging to address concerns over employment, education, medical care, health and income, according to an official ⁠government report. Authorities will improve population services and respond proactively on ageing, including "promoting high-quality, full employment, improving the income distribution system, and refining the social security system."

Drugmaker Aspen targets Mounjaro approval in sub-Saharan Africa this year

Aspen Pharmacare aims to secure sub-Saharan African approval for Eli Lilly's blockbuster weight-loss drug Mounjaro as early as this year, its CEO said on Wednesday, capitalising on soaring regional demand for obesity treatments. South Africa-based Aspen's push to register Mounjaro across the region signals its bid to become a key manufacturing and distribution partner for global drugmakers eyeing one of the last major untapped markets for GLP-1 weight-loss treatments.

Amazon launches AI-enabled platform to automate healthcare administrative tasks

Amazon's cloud unit, AWS, said on Thursday it had launched an artificial intelligence-enabled platform that aims to ease access to care for patients and cut administrative work for healthcare providers. The agentic AI-led platform, Amazon Connect Health, integrates with electronic ‌health records that clinicians use for patient verification, appointment scheduling, compiling medical histories, clinical documentation, and medical coding, AWS ‌said in a blog post.

Roche, Zealand's obesity drug shows up to 10.7% weight loss in mid-stage trial

Roche said on Thursday its experimental obesity drug, which it is developing with Denmark's Zealand Pharma, helped patients lose up to 10.7% of their body weight in a mid-stage study. In the 493-patient ​trial, the patients on the drug, petrelintide, lost far more weight over 42 weeks than those given placebo, who reported a 1.7% decline.

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