Health News Roundup: Trump signals support for 15-week national abortion ban; Biggest cyberattacks in US healthcare sector and more

The biotech firm expects travel vaccines Ixiaro and Dukoral to drive mid-term sales, it said, including Ixiaro sales posting double-digit growth for at least the next three years. UnitedHealth says unit Change has restored and rebuilt functions handled by Amazon UnitedHealth Group said on Wednesday its unit Change Healthcare's cloud-based services for handling medical claims were completely rebuilt and restored, about a month after a cybersecurity attack on the subsidiary crippled healthcare in the United States.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Valneva guides for nearly double product sales by 2026

France's Valneva on Wednesday said it expects to nearly double its annual product sales by 2026 and edged up its 2024 product sales guidance as it banks on growth from its travel vaccines and the launch of its Ixchiq vaccine. The biotech firm expects travel vaccines Ixiaro and Dukoral to drive mid-term sales, it said, including Ixiaro sales posting double-digit growth for at least the next three years.

UnitedHealth says unit Change has restored and rebuilt functions handled by Amazon

UnitedHealth Group said on Wednesday its unit Change Healthcare's cloud-based services for handling medical claims were completely rebuilt and restored, about a month after a cybersecurity attack on the subsidiary crippled healthcare in the United States. Amazon's cloud services for two of Change Healthcare's applications were restored from backups and cleared by their cybersecurity partners, the insurer said.

Kyowa Kirin's gene therapy most expensive US drug with $4.3 million price tag

Orchard Therapeutics, a unit of Japan's Kyowa Kirin, priced its newly approved gene therapy for a rare, life-threatening genetic disease on Wednesday at $4.25 million, making it the most expensive drug in the United States. The therapy was approved on Monday, in a first for children with a rare disorder called metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), which causes damage to the nervous system and is estimated to affect one in every 40,000 individuals in the United States.

Trump signals support for 15-week national abortion ban

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he was leaning toward a 15-week national ban on abortion but supports exceptions for rape, incest and saving the life of the mother because "you have to win elections." Abortion promises to be a galvanizing issue for some voters in the 2024 presidential election in which Trump will try to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden.

Bristol Myers' Opdivo-Yervoy combo meets main goal in liver cancer trial

Bristol Myers Squibb said on Wednesday a combination of Opdivo and Yervoy met the main goal of a late-stage study evaluating it as an initial treatment for a type of liver cancer. The results bolster the company's efforts to expand the use for the blockbuster drugs that are set to lose their market exclusivity before the end of the decade.

Biggest cyberattacks in US healthcare sector

Disruptions from the Feb. 21 hack at UnitedHealth Group's tech unit created a cash crunch for small healthcare providers and led to a U.S. health department probe into whether there was a breach of protected health data. The exact impact of the hack on patient data is not yet clear, but it adds to the growing list of increasingly disruptive cyberattacks on U.S. healthcare companies.

Gloomy youth pull US and western Europe down global happiness ranking

Rising unhappiness among younger people has caused the United States and some large western European countries to fall down a global wellbeing index, while Nordic nations retain their grip on the top spots. The annual World Happiness Report, launched in 2012 to support the United Nations' sustainable development goals, is based on data from U.S. market research company Gallup, analysed by a global team now led by the University of Oxford.

After earnings plunge, BioNTech pins hopes on cancer drug launches

Germany's BioNTech, whose COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with Pfizer was widely used during the pandemic, reported on Wednesday a plunge in 2023 revenue and earnings as its focus shifts towards cancer drug development. The Mainz-based company posted revenues of 3.819 billion euros ($4.14 billion), down by more than three-quarters compared to 2022, and net profit of 930.3 million euros, 90% lower than a year earlier.

Dengue outbreak in Argentina on track to break records

A major outbreak in Argentina of dengue, a mosquito-borne illness that can be fatal, is on track to smash previous records, reflecting wider worry around South America where warmer and wetter weather has led to a surge in cases. Over 120,000 cases have been recorded so far in Argentina in the 2023/24 season, with the bulk of those in the last two months. That puts it far ahead of the previous season, already the worst on record.

UnitedHealth hack takes toll on healthcare providers to the nation's poor

The ransomware attack on UnitedHealth that has disrupted payments to U.S. doctors and healthcare facilities nationwide for a month, has taken an especially harsh toll on the community health centers that serve more than 30 million poor and uninsured patients. Many large healthcare centers have been able to resume receiving payments and making claims after the hack by using alternative technology, UnitedHealth says.

(With inputs from agencies.)