Health News Roundup: SmileDirectClub shares rose 17.4% on Tuesday; Roche aims to 'underwhelm' on SMA drug price and more


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 15-01-2020 03:24 IST | Created: 15-01-2020 02:28 IST
Health News Roundup: SmileDirectClub shares rose 17.4% on Tuesday; Roche aims to 'underwhelm' on SMA drug price and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

In New York City, women of color have more childbirth complications

Black and Latina mothers in New York City are more likely than white women to experience severe delivery complications even when they have similar types of health insurance and give birth at the same hospital, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data on 591,455 deliveries at 40 hospitals in New York City from 2010 to 2014. They calculated the risk of serious complications such as heart attacks, cardiac arrest, kidney failure, respiratory distress, heart failure, hysterectomy or the need for blood transfusions, breathing tubes or ventilators.

New York drug distributor exits opioids after admitting role in crisis

A New York company that was the first drug distributor to face U.S. felony charges for its role in fueling the opioid crisis said on Tuesday it will stop distributing controlled pharmaceuticals, which include opioids. Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc (RDC) announced the decision after agreeing last April to settle the charges by paying a $20 million fine and accepting independent monitoring, under a five-year deferred prosecution agreement.

Suicide rates sharply higher than average in teens, young adults with diabetes

Young people with diabetes are at greater risk than peers without the disease of developing mental health problems or attempting suicide as they transition into adulthood, a Canadian study suggests. Based on data for more than 1 million young people born in Quebec, researchers found that being diagnosed with diabetes is associated with increased odds of being diagnosed in an emergency room or hospital with a mood disorder like depression. It's also linked to higher odds of being admitted to a hospital for a suicide attempt, according to the report in Diabetes Care.

Amgen CEO expects 25% of growth to come from Asia in next decade

Biotechnology giant Amgen Inc expects up to a quarter of its growth to come from Asia over the next decade, Chief Executive Officer Robert Bradway told Reuters. The forecast marks a shift for 40-year-old Amgen, which still relies on the U.S. market for more than 75% of its sales, 30 years after it won U.S. marketing approval for its first drug, red-blood-cell-booster Epogen."China and Japan are the second and third largest markets in our industry," Bradway said in an interview on Monday on the sidelines of the JP Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco. "In the case of China, it is a rapidly growing market. ... Japan has an aging population and we expect that will be a growth market for us."

WHO says new China coronavirus could spread, warns hospitals worldwide

There may have been limited human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus in China within families, and it is possible there could be a wider outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause infections ranging from the common cold to SARS. A Chinese woman has been quarantined in Thailand with a mystery strain of coronavirus, Thai authorities said on Monday, the first time the virus has been detected outside China.

SmileDirectClub jumps on plans to start selling aligners to dentists

Shares of SmileDirectClub Inc rose 17.4% on Tuesday after the online dentistry company said it would sell aligners directly to dentists, widening its distribution channel after a deal with rival Align Technology Inc expired last month. Shares of Align, which manufactured clear aligners for SmileDirectClub, were down 3.9% at $286.47.

Roche aims to 'underwhelm' on SMA drug price to challenge rivals

Swiss drugmaker Roche plans to price its oral spinal muscular atrophy drug (SMA) risdiplam aggressively to challenge two of the world's most expensive medicines, Biogen's Spinraza and Novartis's gene therapy Zolgensma. Spinraza's list price is $750,000 in the first year, and $375,000 thereafter, while Novartis's gene therapy for the genetic muscle-wasting disease lists at $2.1 million, making it the drug industry's most expensive one-time treatment.

Eli Lilly to offer half-priced versions of two more insulin products

Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday it plans to sell two versions of insulin products at half their current U.S. list prices, eight months after it started selling a half-priced version of its widely-used Humalog injection. Lilly will sell new versions of Humalog Junior KwikPen and Humalog Mix75/25, which contains a mix of fast- and intermediate-acting insulin, at a list price of $265.20 for a pack of five KwikPens. They will be available at that price by mid-April, the company said.

Brain freeze: Russian firm offers path to immortality for a fee

When Alexei Voronenkov's 70-year-old mother passed away, he paid to have her brain frozen and stored in the hope breakthroughs in science will one day be able to bring her back to life. It is one of 71 brains and human cadavers - which Russian company KrioRus calls its "patients" - floating in liquid nitrogen in one of several meters-tall vats in a corrugated metal shed outside Moscow.

Biogen to buy early-stage potential Alzheimer's, Parkinson's treatment from Pfizer

Biogen Inc said on Monday it has agreed to buy an early-stage experimental treatment from Pfizer Inc that it aims to test in patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Under the deal, Pfizer will get $75 million upfront and will be eligible for $635 million in potential milestone payments.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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