Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Invest in health for global security and growth, Gates urges donors

Donating billions of dollars to global funds that fight poverty and disease is one of the best investments governments can make to boost security and economic growth, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates said on Thursday. Ending epidemics of infectious diseases such as malaria, polio, HIV and malaria is proving tough, they said, but dramatic progress made by global aid mechanisms recent decades means the world's people are now healthier and more productive.

Study links opioid epidemic to painkiller marketing

Researchers are reporting a link between doctor-targeted marketing of opioid products and the increase in U.S. deaths from overdoses. In a county-by-county analysis, they found that when drug companies increased their opioid marketing budgets by just $5.29 per 1,000 population, the number of opioid prescriptions written by doctors went up by 82 percent and the opioid death rate was 9 percent higher a year later.

Lilly cancer drug fails key trial, will no longer be prescribed

Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday that its cancer treatment Lartruvo, which had won conditional approval, failed to improve patient survival in a long-term confirmatory study and will no longer be prescribed, driving the drugmaker's shares down nearly 3 percent. No new U.S. patients will be started on the drug and Lilly is suspending promotion of the medicine, the company said.

Immunomedics' cancer treatment fails to win accelerated approval from the FDA

Immunomedics Inc said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to grant accelerated approval for its breast cancer treatment, sacituzumab. The company said it will request a meeting with the agency and work closely with the health regulator in its effort to launch the treatment as soon as possible.

Japan Tobacco ratchets up smokeless war with new products

Japan Tobacco Inc on Thursday unveiled two "heat-not-burn" products, as it races against market leader Philip Morris International Inc for a larger share of the vaping space with conventional cigarettes steadily falling out of favor. Despite commanding 60 percent of the local cigarette market, Japan Tobacco has been caught on the wrong side of the rising popularity of heat-not-burn (HNB) alternatives and has lagged in the category in its own backyard versus the Marlboro maker.

Samsung Bioepis-Merck biosimilar to Roche's Herceptin wins FDA nod

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it had approved a biosimilar to Roche Holding AG's blockbuster breast cancer treatment, Herceptin. The biosimilar, Ontruzant, is co-developed by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a unit of Merck & Co Inc, and Samsung Bioepis Co Ltd, which is a joint venture between Samsung BioLogics and Biogen Inc .

Long-lasting menopause symptoms may be tied to slightly higher breast cancer risk

Women who experience symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes or night sweats, for many years may be slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than women who never had these symptoms, a U.S. study suggests. But while women with long-lasting menopausal symptoms may have a slightly higher risk for breast cancer, they are not more likely to die from the disease, the study found.

FDA advisory panel split over Sanofi-Lexicon diabetes drug

An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was divided over whether to recommend approval of a treatment for type 1 diabetes developed by Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc and France's Sanofi SA. The panel on Thursday voted 8-8 when asked to assess the once-daily oral medicine, sotagliflozin, an add-on to insulin therapy.

For heart failure patients in hospital, flu boosts risk of complications, death

When people with heart failure are hospitalized, having influenza is tied to greater odds of respiratory and kidney complications and a higher chance they won't survive to be discharged, a U.S. study suggests. Using a national database, the researchers looked at more than 8 million heart failure-associated hospitalizations and identified 54,585 patients who had flu at the time. They compared this group to a similar group of heart failure patients hospitalized without flu.

Scientists reveal 'ideal diet' for peoples' and planet's health

Scientists have unveiled what they say is an ideal diet for the health of the planet and its populations - including a doubling of consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes, and a halving of meat and sugar intake. If the world followed the "Planetary Health" diet, the researchers said, more than 11 million premature deaths could be prevented each year, while greenhouse gas emissions would be cut and more land, water and biodiversity would be preserved.