Health News Roundup: Novartis begins tender offer for cancer-focused MorphoSys; Arizona ruling puts abortion at center of 2024 presidential election and more

The decision from the conservative Arizona Supreme Court sent a shockwave through the battleground state, which is poised to play a pivotal role in November's presidential election while also hosting one of the country's most high-profile Senate races. Novartis begins tender offer for cancer-focused MorphoSys Novartis said on Thursday it has launched a tender offer to acquire MorphoSys, a German developer of cancer treatments, for an aggregate 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion).

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Explainer-US limits on PFAS in drinking water could fuel litigation

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized the first federal regulations on toxic "forever chemicals" in drinking water, setting tight limits that essentially require public water systems to all but eliminate their presence in American tap water. The highly anticipated rules target six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that are commonly used to make thousands of commercial and consumer products like semiconductors, firefighting foams and stain resistant fabrics.

Bausch wins US appeal to block Alvogen generic of diarrhea drug

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday affirmed a decision for Bausch Health that barred rival drugmaker Alvogen from marketing a proposed generic version of Bausch's diarrhea treatment Xifaxan until 2029. A Delaware federal court had determined that Alvogen subsidiary Norwich Pharmaceuticals' generic would infringe patents owned by Bausch's Salix Pharmaceuticals. It blocked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from approving the generic until the last Xifaxan U.S. patent expires in October 2029.

Bird flu pushes US dairy farmers to ban visitors, chop trees

Dairy farmers in the United States are raising their defenses to try to contain the spread of bird flu: banning visitors, cutting down trees to discourage wild birds from landing, and disinfecting vehicles coming onto their land. North Carolina on Wednesday became the seventh state to report an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a dairy herd, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed infections in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Michigan, Idaho and New Mexico.

Gerresheimer shares down on outlook, but key contracts confirmed

The CEO of Germany's Gerresheimer confirmed on Thursday that the maker of packaging and medical equipment has contracts with leading players in the burgeoning weight-loss drugs sector, but its shares fell 4.4% after investors were underwhelmed by its second-quarter outlook. Though the company reiterated its core profit (adjusted EBITDA) forecast of 430 million to 450 million euros ($461.52 million to $482.99 million) for the year, CEO Dietmar Siemssen told analysts on a conference call that the ongoing reduction of inventory would weigh on the primary packaging glass division for the near future.

Evidence around youth gender care 'remarkably weak', says major English review

Medical evidence underlying gender care for adolescents is “remarkably weak” and provides little clarity on long-term outcomes, according to an in-depth review of care commissioned by England’s state-funded National Health Service. Gender care can include anything from counselling to medications related to gender issues, including drugs that can pause puberty.

Kenya recalls J&J children's cough syrup over suspected toxicity

Kenya's drug regulator is recalling a batch of Johnson & Johnson children's cough syrup, it said on Thursday, a day after Nigeria recalled the same batch of medication under the Benylin Paediatric brand. Nigeria's health regulator said laboratory tests on the syrup showed a high level of diethylene glycol, which has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022 in one of the world's worst waves of poisoning from oral medication.

Polish parliament debates divisive issue of abortion

Polish lawmakers began a heated debate on liberalising access to abortion on Thursday, a central election campaign promise of Prime Minister Donald Tusk that has opened a rift within his pro-European coalition in recent weeks. Women's rights are high on the agenda in Poland, which introduced a near-total ban on abortion in 2021 and where the previous, nationalist government embedded its conservative social values in law during its eight-year rule.

Arizona ruling puts abortion at center of 2024 presidential election

Democrats wasted little time capitalizing on Tuesday's ruling from Arizona's high court upholding a 160-year-old abortion ban, organizing press conferences in swing states across the country and blaming former Republican President Donald Trump for eliminating a nationwide right to abortion. The decision from the conservative Arizona Supreme Court sent a shockwave through the battleground state, which is poised to play a pivotal role in November's presidential election while also hosting one of the country's most high-profile Senate races.

Novartis begins tender offer for cancer-focused MorphoSys

Novartis said on Thursday it has launched a tender offer to acquire MorphoSys, a German developer of cancer treatments, for an aggregate 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion). Reuters reported in February that Swiss drugmaker Novartis would buy MorphoSys, which had an equity market value of around 1.6 billion euros before the offer was announced.

Moderna pauses Kenya plant plans as COVID vaccine demand wanes

Moderna said on Thursday it had paused its plans to build a vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya, following a post-pandemic decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccines. The move is in line with Moderna's strategy of resizing its manufacturing network to cut costs, even as it aims to spend around $4.5 billion this year in research and development of several new vaccines, including for cancer and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

(With inputs from agencies.)