Reuters Health News Summary

In a 44-week study, 50.8% of patients on the 25 milligram dose, and about 51.3% on the higher 50 mg dose of the experimental oral pill, obefazimod, experienced clinical remission, compared to 10.4% on placebo. Factbox-What Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines and treatments are under development Global health authorities are racing to identify medical options to ‌help contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Experimental Novartis radiopharma drug shows promise in early study

Novartis said on Sunday that early data from its experimental actinium-based drug showed signs of anti-tumour activity against prostate cancer, including in patients previously treated with its older drug Pluvicto. Data from a 101-patient study showed that 52.5% of those previously treated with Pluvicto saw levels of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, fall by at ​least half when treated with the actinium-based drug. Elevated PSA level is a common marker for prostate cancer.

Travere licenses Everest's kidney disease drug in deal worth up to $1.14 billion

Travere Therapeutics said on Tuesday it has signed a licensing pact with privately held ​biotech Everest Medicines to develop and commercialize an experimental kidney disease drug in a deal worth up to $1.14 billion. Here are some details:

US agency announces interim guidance on Medicaid work requirements

The ‌U.S. agency that runs ​the Medicare and Medicaid programs on Monday announced interim guidance on how states should implement new work requirements for Americans enrolled in Medicaid health plans. The rule announced last year as part of President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill requires 80 hours of work per month to be eligible to receive Medicaid, the health program for low-income Americans.

Abivax's inflammatory bowel drug meets main goal of late stage trial

Abivax said on Monday its experimental drug for patients with ulcerative colitis, a type of chronic inflammatory disease, met the main goal of a closely watched late-stage trial. In a 44-week study, 50.8% of patients on the 25 milligram dose, and about 51.3% on the higher 50 mg dose of the experimental oral pill, obefazimod, experienced clinical remission, compared to 10.4% on placebo.

Factbox-What Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines and treatments are under development

Global health authorities are racing to identify medical options to ‌help contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. Unlike for the more common Zaire strain, there are no approved vaccines or treatments for Bundibugyo.

Merck exec says company is discussing use of COVID antiviral drug in Ebola response

Merck is in discussions with various global health authorities about making its COVID antiviral pill molnupiravir available as an Ebola treatment to address the widening outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior executive told Reuters. The outbreak, which has so far infected a suspected 1,100 people and resulted in 42 deaths, involves a rare strain of the virus called Bundibugyo for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.

China recognises Brazil as foot-and-mouth disease free, lifts bans

China's customs agency said it has lifted bans related to foot-and-mouth disease in northern Brazil, and recognises the whole of Brazil as free of the disease, according to an official notice released on Tuesday. The announcement is good news for Brazil, the world's largest beef and chicken exporter, which sent more than half of its beef exports to China last year.

J&J prostate cancer drug reduces risk of cancer spread and death in late-stage study

Johnson & Johnson's prostate cancer drug Erleada used with hormone-blocking therapy six ‌months before and after prostate surgery improved the chances of eliminating the cancer and reduced the risk of disease progression or death, according to data from a late-stage trial presented on Sunday. The study, which followed patients for over five years, found that those who received the regimen were nine times more likely to have little to no detectable cancer in the prostate at the time of surgery compared with those given testosterone-blocking therapy alone.

Revolution's pancreatic cancer drug doubles survival, boosts quality of life

Revolution Medicine's experimental pancreatic cancer pill doubled survival compared with chemotherapy and improved symptoms enough ‌that some patients could resume activities they had previously abandoned, setting a new benchmark for this deadly cancer, researchers reported on Sunday. Full results of the 500-person trial, which tested the once-daily pill against standard chemotherapy in patients who had failed one round of chemotherapy, showed that daraxonrasib reduced the overall risk of death by 60% compared with patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with chemotherapy.

Moderna and other groups get $60 million to develop Ebola vaccine

Global health organisation CEPI will give roughly $60 million to Moderna and two other groups to accelerate the development of shots against Ebola Bundibugyo, the deadly virus that has swept through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations was one of the early investors that helped to develop a vaccine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GIC-backed Asia Healthcare eyes IPO within 12-18 months, cautious on market volatility

Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH) is considering listing its shares within the next 12 to 18 months, although it remains wary of market volatility, Executive Chairman Vishal Bali said. The company, which is backed by Singapore's GIC and TPG and has invested more than $300 million in healthcare businesses over the past decade, continues to monitor market trends closely before taking a final decision on an IPO, Bali told Reuters in an interview.

Praxis Precision's epilepsy drug misses main goal of mid-to-late stage study

Praxis Precision Medicines said on Monday its experimental epilepsy drug failed to meet the main goal of a mid- to late-stage study, prompting it to pause ⁠enrollment in another ongoing study while it ​reassesses the program. Shares of the biotech firm fell more than 12% in extended trading.

Abivax shares sink after key trial results for inflammatory bowel drug

Abivax shares tumbled ⁠on Tuesday after the French biotech reported late-stage data for its experimental inflammatory bowel drug, with investors focusing on safety concerns even as the treatment showed strong efficacy. The shares were down 30% in early Paris trading, leading losses on Europe's STOXX 600 benchmark index, after a spectacular rally last year that saw the stock rise more than 16-fold.

Akeso lung cancer drug helps patients live 15% longer than immunotherapy in China trial

An experimental drug developed by China-based Akeso helped patients with advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer live 15% longer than BeOne Medicines' immunotherapy Tevimbra, and cut the risk of death by more than one-third in a study presented at a medical meeting on Sunday. Patients who received ivonescimab and chemotherapy lived an ⁠average of 27.9 months, compared with 23.7 months for those who received Tevimbra and chemotherapy, according to a brief summary of the study results.

Health officials oppose US plan to treat Ebola-exposed Americans overseas

Healthcare officials in the U.S., including former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, on Monday warned Congress against adopting a proposed policy to treat Americans exposed to Ebola in Kenya or countries in the European Union. The officials, including infectious disease physician Krutika Kuppalli, emergency physicians Debra Houry and Craig Spencer, and epidemiologist Anne Schuchat, argued in an open letter the policy would be a departure from the longstanding practice of medical repatriation and raise serious clinical risks.

Congo re-opens airport ​at centre of Ebola outbreak

Democratic Republic of Congo has re-opened the airport in the capital city of the province hit hardest by the ongoing Ebola outbreak, a government statement said, reversing a move that some residents said had cut them off from critical supplies. The government in Kinshasa announced last month that it was suspending passenger flights to Bunia, the main airport in Ituri, where the first Ebola cases were confirmed. Humanitarian and medical flights continued subject to approvals.

FDA declines to approve Cingulate's ADHD treatment over manufacturing issues

Drug ⁠developer Cingulate said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its drug to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, citing manufacturing-related concerns. In its complete response letter, the FDA did not flag any concerns about the drug's safety or effectiveness, Cingulate said.

Fulcrum scraps sickle cell drug program after FDA raises cancer-risk concerns

Fulcrum Therapeutics said on Monday it would stop developing its experimental sickle-cell disease drug after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raised cancer-risk concerns, which left no viable regulatory path for the treatment. The drug developer's shares slumped nearly 50% in extended trading.

US regulator approves oral drug from Japan's Shionogi to prevent COVID-19

Japan's Shionogi & Co said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its oral antiviral Ensitrelvir, commercially known as Xocova, for the preventive ⁠treatment of individuals ​who have been exposed to COVID-19. "XOCOVA is the first and only oral option clinically proven to help prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after exposure among study participants regardless of vaccination status," Nathan McCutcheon, CEO of Shionogi's U.S. unit, said in a statement.

Uganda health ministry confirms six new cases of Ebola

Uganda has confirmed six more new cases of Ebola, bringing the total confirmed in the country so far to 15, the health ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement on its X account that the six were confirmed among contacts of other confirmed cases. It said to date there were two discharges from hospital, with 12 people admitted and one death.

Brazil authorities say two suspected Ebola cases tested negative

Brazil has cleared two suspected cases of Ebola after both patients tested negative for the virus, local authorities said on Monday. The suspected cases emerged over the weekend from patients with related symptoms who had recently been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the current Ebola outbreak is centered, and in neighboring Uganda, which has also reported cases.

West Pharma names former Thermo Fisher executive Lagarde as CEO

West Pharmaceutical said on Monday it appointed former Thermo Fisher Scientific executive Michel Lagarde as ⁠its top boss, effective August 31, succeeding longtime chief Eric Green. Green, who has led the medical equipment maker since 2015 and became board chair in 2022, had said in March he would step down once a successor was found.

Protests over US Ebola site in Kenya kill two, court keeps block

A Kenyan court blocked on Tuesday for another three weeks a proposed U.S. Ebola quarantine facility that has triggered protests killing two people and ordered the government to disclose its agreement with Washington. The proposed 50-bed unit on an air force base in ⁠central Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus in Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda has angered many Kenyans. They accuse the U.S. of offloading the health risk of ⁠caring for patients.

Hundreds protest against planned US Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya

Hundreds of people took to the streets in the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki on Monday to protest moves by the United States to set up an Ebola quarantine facility at a military base there, residents told Reuters, days after the High Court ordered the government to suspend the plan temporarily. The court ordered the temporary suspension on Friday after a lawsuit was brought arguing that the site could endanger public health.

Ebola recoveries bring signs of hope in DRC as suspected cases emerge outside Africa

Four nurses who were being treated for Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus have been discharged from a hospital in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo after recovering from the disease, the World Health Organization said on Sunday. More recoveries are expected, especially when people are diagnosed ‌early and able to access care, and as the response to the outbreak intensifies.

WHO chief wraps up visit ‌to Ebola-hit Congo, briefs president on response

The head of the World Health Organization on Monday concluded his visit to Democratic Republic of Congo by briefing the president on the response to the Ebola outbreak, which an aid agency warned was likely much larger than official figures show. The outbreak, already the ​third-largest on record, persisted for weeks undetected, say health officials, who are now behind the curve and struggling to bring it under control.