Health News Roundup: Novartis sickle-cell drug gets U.S. FDA approval; Congo president says Ebola outbreak should be over this year


Reuters | Updated: 16-11-2019 02:32 IST | Created: 16-11-2019 02:29 IST
Health News Roundup: Novartis sickle-cell drug gets U.S. FDA approval; Congo president says Ebola outbreak should be over this year
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Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

FDA clears Pentax's duodenoscope designed to reduce need for disinfection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it had cleared medical equipment maker Pentax of America's duodenoscope, which is designed to be easier to disinfect and clean than traditional devices. The device is the first type of duodenoscopes with a disposable elevator component, a part of the device that has traditionally been difficult to clean and reprocess.

In states with restrictive abortion laws, women seek online options

(Reuters Health) - There's demand among U.S. women for an online service offering abortion medication, and it's driven mainly by restrictive abortion policies, but also by high costs, stigma or simply the appeal of a private, at-home solution, a small study suggests. At the time the study was done, the U.S did not have online access to abortion care, researchers note in the American Journal of Public Health. T

rump says U.S. states will be able to buy prescription drugs abroad

President Donald Trump said on Friday he would be giving U.S. states the right to buy prescription drugs from other countries, as part of a bid to boost consumer access to cheaper medicines. "I'm going to be giving governors the right very shortly to buy ... their prescription drugs from other countries," Trump said at a White House event accompanied by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, among other officials.

Smokers who switch to vaping rapidly boost heart health in trial

Chronic smokers who switched from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarette vapes in a large randomized control trial saw a significant improvement in markers of heart health after just a month, researchers said on Friday. In study results likely to be closely scrutinized by health specialists worldwide, British scientists found that cigarette smokers who switched to nicotine-containing vapes saw a marked boost to their vascular function - a change that could lead to a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Women in prison have higher rates of HPV, cervical cancer

Across the world, imprisoned women have higher rates of cervical cancer and the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection that can lead to cancer, according to a research review. Screening and treatment could address these problems in an especially vulnerable population of women, the authors conclude in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Novartis sickle-cell drug gets U.S. FDA approval

Novartis AG on Friday won U.S. approval for its experimental sickle cell disease drug, Adakveo, making it the first of several proposed new therapies designed to offer lasting relief for patients with the debilitating blood disease to get U.S. regulatory clearance. The biologic drug, also known as crizanlizumab, was shown in trials in its high-dose formula to cut sickle cell pain crises nearly by half to 1.63 incidents annually from 2.98 in those getting a placebo. The Food and Drug Administration's approval came nearly two months ahead of its due date for a decision in January.

GSK sees breakthrough in shingles vaccine output in 2024

GlaxoSmithKline said further growth from its shingles vaccine, which has boosted earnings, would be reined in by limited capacity until 2024, but a new bioreactor facility would then be ready to bring a step change in production. GSK, Britain's largest drugmaker, had originally envisaged a gradual launch in the United States, its biggest market, but regulators unexpectedly recommended Shingrix not only for people reaching the age of 50 but also to replace an established product.

Roche buys U.S. drugmaker Promedior for up to $1.4 billion to get lung drug

Swiss drugmaker Roche is paying up to $1.4 billion to buy U.S. biotech company Promedior, whose main drug candidate against the lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is set to begin late-stage trials, Promedior said on Friday. The deal includes a payment of $390 million, plus the potential for $1 billion more if conditions are met. Promedior's lead asset PRM-151 is being studied in IPF where the firm said it helped improve lung function, on top of current therapies.

Oklahoma judge reduces Johnson & Johnson payout in opioid case to $465 million

An Oklahoma judge on Friday said Johnson & Johnson needs to pay only $465 million of the $572 million he previously concluded it owed the state for fueling the opioid epidemic through deceptive marketing of painkillers. The ruling by Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman in Norman, Oklahoma, came in the first case to go to trial out of 2,700 nationally by states, counties and cities seeking to hold drug companies responsible for the deadly epidemic.

Congo president says Ebola outbreak should be over this year

An outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo should be eradicated by the end of 2019, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said on Friday. The epidemic in Congo was declared in August 2018 and has so far killed nearly 2,200 people, making it the second-worst outbreak of the virus on record behind the 2013-16 West African outbreak that killed more than 11,300.

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

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