Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. U.S. Mayo Clinic partners with Abu Dhabi to operate hospital

Abu Dhabi has partnered with U.S. non-profit organization Mayo Clinic in a joint venture to operate one of the largest hospitals in the United Arab Emirates as it seeks to become a regional hub for world-class healthcare. State-owned Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) and Mayo Clinic said on Sunday they would operate Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, one of the UAE's largest hospitals for patients with serious or complex medical conditions. Roche eyes quick FDA approval in SMA race with Biogen, Novartis

Roche expects its risdiplam medicine for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) to get U.S. approval by May, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday, as it takes on Novartis and Biogen in the lucrative rare disease area. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted priority review for risdiplam, an oral medicine for those with the potentially deadly muscle-wasting disorder. Roche, whose drug is seen as a rival for Biogen's Spinraza and Novartis's Zolgensma gene therapy, said the FDA is due to decide by May 24. Longer-term data fail to clear concern over Takeda's dengue vaccine

An additional six months of data from a late-stage trial of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co's experimental dengue vaccine again showed it failed to protect against one of the four types of the virus in an important patient group, researchers said on Saturday. The longer-term data, presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting in Maryland, also showed a slight waning of the overall effectiveness of the vaccine, TAK-003. Takeda says cancer drug Alunbrig shows longer benefit vs. crizotinib

Japan's biggest drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd , said long-term data show better outcomes for its Alunbrig drug in certain lung cancer patients compared to an existing treatment. Oncology is a pillar for Takeda as it refocuses on core businesses following last year's $59 billion takeover of Britain's Shire. The announcement followed a week of investor conferences at home and in the United States intended to show that its drug pipeline is robust enough to fuel continued growth. India courts private hospitals to boost insurance program

India will offer incentives to private hospitals to take part in the government's health insurance program, potentially the biggest of its kind in the world, a senior government official told Reuters. Launched last year, the scheme is critical to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plans to reform the country's health system, where private healthcare is too expensive for most people and public hospitals are overburdened and often dilapidated.