Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Disc Medicine's late-stage win clears path for approval of sun-allergy pill

Disc Medicine said on Monday its experimental pill for a rare disease helped patients spend more time in sunlight without pain, sending its shares ​surging 35% in early trading. The late-stage trial success sets the stage for Disc to resubmit its application for an FDA review of bitopertin after the regulator turned down the ​drug earlier this year. Disc plans to submit the new data by year-end, supporting potential approval and launch around mid-2027.

Brazil ‌detects Newcastle ​disease at turkey farm, raising export concerns

Brazil has detected a case of Newcastle disease at a turkey farm in the southern state of Santa Catarina, Agriculture Minister Andre de Paula said on Monday, raising concerns about potential disruptions to poultry shipments from the world's largest chicken meat exporter. China, one of Brazil's largest markets for chicken meat, halted imports from Rio Grande do Sul after a Newcastle disease case was confirmed at a commercial farm in the state in 2024. The ban was lifted earlier this year.

Veradermics' oral hair-loss drug shown to boost hair growth in late-stage ‌study

Drug developer Veradermics said on Monday that its oral pill helped increase hair growth in men with pattern hair loss in a late-stage study. Shares of the company were up 7.5% at $117 in premarket trading.

Roche puts future German investments 'on hold'

Swiss drugmaker Roche is reviewing all future investments in Germany over healthcare cost-cutting policies, the company's Germany chief said in an interview with newspaper Welt published on Monday. "We have put all future investment decisions in Germany on hold for the time being," said Daniel Steiners, head of Roche Germany, adding that for the pharmaceutical industry, policymakers had "recently destroyed a lot of trust."

China's Hansoh Pharma strikes drug deal with Roche worth over $15 billion

China's Hansoh Pharmaceutical said on Monday it has entered into a partnership and licensing deal with Roche potentially worth more than $15 billion that covers ‌a portfolio of antibody-drug conjugate programs. As part of the deal with the Swiss drugmaker's unit F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Hansoh will receive an upfront payment of $400 million, a first anniversary payment of $110 million and further milestone payments.

HK-listed Metis TechBio, Eli Lilly strike drug-delivery deal worth up to $1.1 billion

Hong Kong-listed Metis TechBio said on Monday it has entered into a collaboration agreement with ‌Eli Lilly worth up to $1.1 billion to research and develop tissue-specific drug delivery technologies. The Chinese biotech will use its proprietary AI-driven drug-delivery platform to develop next-generation technologies aimed at improving how LNP-based drugs reach target tissues.

Roche to unveil lung, breast cancer data at ESMO 2026

Roche said on Monday it will present new late-stage trial results at the ESMO 2026 cancer meeting in Madrid, including data showing its lung cancer drug divarasib worked better than current KRAS G12C treatments. The company will also show data that its breast cancer pill giredestrant improved outcomes without hurting patients' quality of life, and that its experimental drug Tam-Peli showed strong results in several hard-to-treat tumours.

EyePoint to halve workforce after experimental drug fails second late-stage trial

EyePoint on Monday said it would cut about 53% of its workforce and stop studies of its experimental drug for an age-related vision disease after a second late-stage trial failed. Its shares tanked more than 75% in premarket trading.

In Russia, five patients test positive ⁠for Mpox, RIA cites hospital

Five ​patients hospitalised in the Russian city of St Petersburg have tested positive for Mpox, the state RIA ⁠news agency reported on Monday, citing the local hospital for infectious diseases. All five were in a stable condition with mild or moderate symptoms for which they were being treated, RIA quoted a representative at the Botkin hospital as saying.

Gilead's pill succeeds in mid-stage bowel disease trial

Gilead Sciences said on Monday its experimental once-daily pill reduced symptoms of a chronic bowel illness in more patients than placebo in a mid-stage trial. The drug, emvistegrast, was being tested in adults ⁠with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that causes inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract

Trump signs order creating NIH division, task force for women's health

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order alongside first lady Melania Trump on Monday creating a White House task force and a National Institutes of Health division focused on women's health. The task force will be led by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who ​recently announced that she is cancer-free, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump said at a White House event.

Kenya confirms eighth Ebola case as regional outbreak spreads

Kenya has confirmed one more Ebola case, bringing the total number of infections in the country to eight, Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth said on Sunday. "Today, 38 people were tested, and ⁠one tested positive for Ebola," Amoth said in an interview on Kenya's Citizen TV.

Bangladesh is battling measles. It's a 'real warning' to other nations

Bangladesh is battling to contain the world’s worst measles outbreak, a crisis exacerbated by weak data, inadequate outreach and vaccination gaps that experts say offers a warning to other nations about the deadly risk of falling immunisation rates. Bangladesh, whose routine vaccination programme faltered in 2025, reported 202,000 suspected measles cases – 22,000 of them laboratory-confirmed – since the start of the outbreak ⁠in mid-March ​to October 9, the World Health Organization said. That’s more suspected cases than any other country this year.

UK's PHP forms joint venture with Singapore's GIC to cut debt

Primary Health Properties expects to receive £500 million ($666.55 million) from a joint venture deal with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC that would help the British healthcare REIT cut debt, the firm said on Monday. Here are more details:

Novartis ends mid-stage Fabhalta trial targeting serious kidney condition

Swiss drugmaker Novartis has terminated a mid-stage study testing its drug Fabhalta in patients with a serious kidney condition, citing "strategic considerations", according to a federal clinical trials registry. The trial was evaluating whether the oral medication was safe and effective for treating lupus nephritis when added to standard medical care

Cherry or tabasco? Perfumers test weight-loss drug users' appetite ⁠for food-inspired scents

From cherry and banoffee pie to tabasco and sesame, the list of food aromas popping up in luxury fragrances keeps growing. Now some perfume makers are starting to ask if weight-loss drugs might be reshaping what consumers want in a scent. So-called gourmand fragrances like Thierry Mugler's pioneering cotton candy-inspired Angel and Nina Ricci's toffee apple scent Nina have ⁠been around for decades. More recent growth in the segment has been attributed to the pandemic-era boom ⁠in online retail — when familiar food associations helped sales of perfumes that cannot be smelled before purchase — and the growing prominence of Gen Z consumers.

Unilever to sell Welly bandage brand to Forward Consumer Partners

Unilever said on Monday it has agreed to sell Welly Health PBC to private-equity firm Forward Consumer Partners, but did not disclose financial terms of the sale. The consumer products giant had acquired a majority stake in the US brand, known for its colorful adhesive bandages, in 2021 from Welly co-founder Eric Ryan for an undisclosed price.

Germany's Merck buys Silence Therapeutics in $1.3 billion RNA ‌drug deal

German drugmaker Merck KGaA said on Monday it would acquire UK-based ‌Silence Therapeutics in an all-cash deal for about $1.3 billion, bolstering its pipeline of precision medicines and adding RNA-targeting drug technology. Merck will pay $20 per American depositary share for Silence, representing a premium of 130% ​to the stock's last close. US-listed shares of Silence more than doubled in morning trading.