Health News Roundup: Ban on heartburn drug ranitidine; Bristol-Myers immunotherapy and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

CVS suspends sales of Zantac brand and generic heartburn drug during safety review

CVS Health Corp said on Saturday it will discontinue sales the popular Zantac heartburn treatment and its own generic ranitidine products from its pharmacies after traces of a known carcinogen were found in some of the products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said earlier this month that some of the pills contained small amounts N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which has also been found in some widely used blood pressure medicines, leading to shortages of those drugs.

Bangladesh bans heartburn drug ranitidine over cancer fears

Bangladesh's drug regulatory authority on Sunday issued a ban on sales of popular heartburn drug ranitidine while it investigates a potential cancer-causing substance in the drug. The move comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that some of the pills contained small amounts N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which the regulator says is a "probable human carcinogen".

Bristol-Myers immunotherapy combo outperforms chemo in lung cancer survival: study

About 40% of patients who received a combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's immuno-oncology drugs Opdivo and Yervoy as an initial treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were alive after two years, according to data presented at a medical meeting on Saturday. The combination outperformed chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for the most common form of lung cancer, with 33% of patients who got the older therapy still alive after two years, the company said.

Results of GSK and AstraZeneca trials may widen ovarian cancer drug use

GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca both reported trial results that will likely make their competing drugs available to a wider group of ovarian cancer patients, possibly helping GSK catch its rival in a highly contested drug class. The two said separately on Saturday their drug candidates - in a class known as PARP inhibitors - staved off the return of metastasized ovarian cancer in women who had responded to initial standard treatment, reducing the risk of a relapse.

GlaxoSmithKline's cancer therapy cuts risk of disease progression or death by 38%

GlaxoSmithKline plc said on Monday its maintenance therapy for a form of ovarian cancer reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 38% in a late-stage study in cancer patients. The study tested the therapy, niraparib, in patients with first-line platinum responsive advanced ovarian cancer and was compared to placebo.

Novartis says Kisqali boosts survival in breast cancer patients

Novartis said on Sunday that Kisqali helped women with advanced breast cancer after menopause live longer, adding to data the Swiss company hopes will help convince doctors to choose its drug over Pfizer's blockbuster Ibrance. Kisqali plus the hormone therapy fulvestrant, when compared to fulvestrant alone, demonstrated a significant improvement in survival with a 28% reduction in risk of death, Novartis said at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting in Barcelona.

East Timor moves to contain African swine fever outbreaks

East Timor is imposing restrictions on the movement of livestock to contain African Swine flu, its agriculture ministry said on Monday after reporting multiple outbreaks to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). There have been 100 outbreaks since early September, the ministry said on the website of the Paris-based OIE, killing a total of 405 backyard pigs from smallholders' farms in the Dili region in the country's north.

Hungary finds African swine fever in wild boar near Budapest

Hungary's national food safety authority Nebih has found five cases of African swine fever in wild boar carcasses near Budapest, it said on Sunday. The causes of the infections found in a closed hunting area in Budakeszi, west of the Hungarian capital, were not immediately clear and an investigation was underway, the authority said.

Vape product concerns weigh on Canadian cannabis companies looking for sales boost

A U.S. recommendation that consumers avoid vaping products containing the active ingredient in marijuana ahead of their legalization in Canada next month could be a blow to Canadian cannabis companies' hopes that the higher-margin products will help propel them to profitability. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that an investigation into 805 confirmed or probable cases of vaping-related respiratory illnesses suggested that products containing THC, the psychoactive element in cannabis, likely played a role.

AstraZeneca, Merck ovarian cancer treatment improves progression-free survival

AstraZeneca Plc and Merck & Co Inc said on Monday their treatment for newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer improved progression-free survival in patients tested in a late-stage study.