Health News Roundup: Pfizer posts surprise 4th quarter profit, but key products miss on sales; Vertex non-opioid painkiller meets main goal in late-stage trials and more

Samples taken from two of the dead penguins came back positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus, said Ralph Vanstreels, a veterinarian who works with SCAR. Pfizer posts surprise 4th quarter profit, but key products miss on sales Pfizer reported a surprise quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by cost cuts and higher-than-expected demand for its COVID treatment Paxlovid, but sales of some high profile products fell short of Wall Street estimates.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Bird flu found in penguins near Antarctica, 200 chicks dead

A deadly type of bird flu has been found in gentoo penguins for the first time, according to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), stoking concern that the virus could spread among Antarctica's huge penguin colonies. Researchers found about 35 penguins dead in the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic on Jan. 19. Samples taken from two of the dead penguins came back positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus, said Ralph Vanstreels, a veterinarian who works with SCAR.

Pfizer posts surprise 4th quarter profit, but key products miss on sales

Pfizer reported a surprise quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by cost cuts and higher-than-expected demand for its COVID treatment Paxlovid, but sales of some high profile products fell short of Wall Street estimates. Pfizer shares were off around 1% in afternoon trading.

Vertex non-opioid painkiller meets main goal in late-stage trials

Vertex Pharmaceuticals' experimental drug reduced acute, post-surgical pain without the risk of addiction, a major milestone in the company's decades-long efforts to bring a non-opioid pain medicine to market. The company plans to file for U.S. approval by mid-2024 for the drug, which works by blocking pain signals at its origin before they reach the brain. If approved, it could achieve annual sales of more than $5 billion, according to analysts.

Factbox-Launches and prices of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy

Novo Nordisk has launched its wildly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy in eight countries since 2021 at prices ranging from $200 to almost $2,000 a month as Eli Lilly starts selling its rival drug in Europe and the United States. The Danish drugmaker is working to convince European governments and insurers to reimburse the drug, seeking to position it as more than a lifestyle drug.

China bans imports of ruminants animals from Iraq due to bluetongue disease

China has banned the direct and indirect import of ruminants and its related products from Iraq due to an outbreak of bluetongue disease, the General Administration of Customs said. The move follows a report from Iraq to the World Organisation for Animal Health after the disease was discovered in sheep, Chinese customs said in an announcement dated Jan. 26.

Bayer faces Australian test with judge to decide whether weedkiller caused cancer

An Australian court on Tuesday heard closing arguments in a class action lawsuit alleging that a weedkiller produced by Bayer caused cancer, the first such case in Australia to reach this stage. Bayer has already paid billions of dollars to settle claims that exposure to its glyphosate herbicide, Roundup, damaged health, in most cases by causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.

2seventy bio to sell experimental cell therapies, names new CEO

Cancer treatment maker 2seventy bio said it will sell all its experimental cell therapies to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to focus on its only approved product Abecma, sending 2seventy's shares up more than 14% in premarket trade. The company on Tuesday also named Chief Operating Officer Chip Baird as its new chief executive, while current CEO Nick Leschly takes over the duties of chairman.

Stryker forecasts strong 2024 as uptick in surgeries lift demand for devices

Stryker Corp forecast 2024 profit above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, banking on a post-pandemic pick-up in volume for certain surgical procedures at hospitals to drive sales for its medical and surgical devices. Shares of the med-tech firm rose 3.2% to about $327 after the bell.

Elon Musk's Neuralink implants brain chip in first human

The first human patient has received an implant from brain-chip startup Neuralink on Sunday and is recovering well, the company's billionaire founder Elon Musk said. "Initial results show promising neuron spike detection," Musk said in a post on the social media platform X on Monday.

China reports death of woman from combined H3N2, H10N5 bird flu

China on Wednesday reported the death of a woman due to an infection of combined H3N2 and H10N5 strains of bird flu after a cross-species transmission, but said the risk of human-to-human transmission is low. The 63-year-old woman from Anhui province had underlying health conditions and developed cough, sore throat, fever and other symptoms on November 30 and died on Dec. 16, the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies.)