Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Indivior temporarily stops rival Alvogen's generic launch

Indivior Plc said on Friday a U.S. district court had granted the British drugmaker a temporary restraining order, stopping rival Alvogen from launching cut-price versions of its blockbuster opioid addiction treatment. Indivior, which makes opioid addiction treatment Suboxone Film, said in March it would fight a U.S. court ruling that allowed Alvogen to launch a rival to its major product. Ebola spreads to high-risk area of Congo: WHO

Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak has spread southwards into an area with high security risks, the World Health Organization said. The outbreak, the country's worst, has killed 439 of the 713 people believed to have caught the disease. The fight against Ebola depends on tracing people who may have had contact with the disease and could fall ill and spread it further. China clones gene-edited monkeys for sleep disorder research

Chinese scientists have made clones of a gene-edited macaque to aid research of circadian rhythm disorders that are linked to sleep problems, depression and Alzheimer's disease, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. It was the first time multiple clones had been made from a gene-edited monkey for biomedical research, the agency said. The clones were born at the Institute of Neuroscience at the China Academy of Sciences in Shanghai. Suicide risk rises in year following cancer diagnosis

Although cancer survival rates have greatly improved in recent decades, a diagnosis with certain types of cancer can still be upsetting enough to increase a patient's risk of suicide, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 4.6 million cancer patients, including 1,585 people who died by suicide within one year of their diagnosis. This was a suicide rate about 2.5 times higher than what would be expected in the general population, researchers report in the journal Cancer. Not-for-profit to offer 20 generic drugs in 2019 to alleviate shortages

A new not-for-profit supplier of generic drugs formed by a consortium of hospitals systems said it expects this year to be able to provide about 20 products to alleviate shortages of medicines used during surgeries and to treat life-threatening conditions, such as septic shock. Since the start-up of Civica Rx spearheaded by Intermountain Healthcare was announced last January, the Utah-based company has raised more than $160 million from its members, which include HCA Healthcare Inc hospital chain, the Mayo Clinic, the Catholic Health Initiatives and others, which together represent about 800 hospitals. WHO warns of deadly outbreak of rat-borne hantavirus in Argentina

At least 11 people have died in Argentina after becoming infected with hantavirus, a disease carried by rats and other rodents, according to a news alert from the World Health Organization (WHO). Among 29 cases of the disease confirmed with laboratory tests between late October 2018 and Jan. 20, 2019, almost 60 percent were in women or girls, the WHO said. Savencia unit recalls baby milk in France after salmonella alert

Sodilac, a unit of French dairy group Savencia, said it was recalling infant formula sold in pharmacies in France and produced at a Spanish factory due to possible links with salmonella cases among babies. Sodilac said in a statement it had decided, in agreement with the French authorities, to carry out a precautionary recall of all products under its Modilac brand supplied by the Spanish factory. CVS unveils 'Beauty Marks' in stores, warning shoppers of edited images

CVS Pharmacy unveiled an initiative in U.S. stores on Thursday, labeling photos of models in its beauty aisles to make it clear whether the images had been digitally altered. The U.S. No 2 drugstore chain, part of CVS Health Corp, is the first major American company to adopt such a policy in the face of rising concerns about doctored images setting unrealistic ideals of beauty, especially for young women. Aetna, other health insurers team up with IBM on blockchain project

CVS Health Corp's Aetna and a host of other health insurers said on Thursday they have partnered with IBM Corp to create a blockchain network aimed at cutting costs in the healthcare industry. The companies intend to use blockchain technology, which allows the sharing of databases across a network of computers, for processing claims and payments and to maintain directories, they said in a joint statement. Drugmaker Novartis urges Britain to secure supply chains before Brexit

Novartis called on Britain to act urgently to protect supply chains on Friday as the Swiss drugmaker, which imports more than 120 million packs of medicines from Europe each year, said it was stockpiling ahead of Brexit. "Given the complex nature of the supply chain, government needs to implement a comprehensive continuity plan rapidly," Novartis said https://www.novartis.co.uk/news/media-releases/novartis-uk-brexit-statement in a statement.