Health News Roundup: Musk's Neuralink shows first brain-chip Patient Playing Online Chess; UnitedHealth says unit Change has restored and rebuilt functions handled by Amazon 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.

Musk's Neuralink shows first brain-chip patient playing online chess

Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink live-streamed on Wednesday its first patient implanted with a chip using his mind to play online chess. Noland Arbaugh, the 29-year-old patient who was paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, played chess on his laptop and moved the cursor using the Neuralink device. The implant seeks to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using only their thoughts.

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.

Global fertility rates to decline, shifting population burden to low-income countries

Fertility rates in nearly all countries will be too low to sustain population levels by the end of the century, and most of the world's live births will be occurring in poorer countries, according to a study published on Wednesday. The trend will lead to a "baby boom" and "baby bust" divide across the world, with the boom concentrated in low-income countries that are more susceptible to economic and political instability, senior researcher Stein Emil Vollset from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle said in a statement.

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.

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 a global well-being 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, analyzed 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 which 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.

GSK to cap out-of-pocket inhaler costs in US

British pharmaceutical giant GSK said on Wednesday it would cap out-of-pocket costs for all its inhaled asthma and chronic lung disease medicines at $35 per month for eligible patients in the United States, following similar moves by two of its rivals. GSK said the decision will take effect by Jan. 1, 2025.

(With inputs from agencies.)