Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Vertex tops Q1 profit estimates on robust demand for cystic fibrosis treatments

Vertex Pharmaceuticals beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Monday, driven by robust uptake for its blockbuster cystic fibrosis treatments. Cystic fibrosis (CF) - an inherited disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs - affects an estimated 105,000 people across 94 countries, according to data from U.S.-based CF Foundation.

Tylenol maker Kenvue to cut 4% jobs, beats quarterly profit estimates

Kenvue will cut 4% of its global workforce amid investments to grow its key brands, the Tylenol and Band-Aid maker said on Tuesday, as it topped beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit. Since its spinoff from Johnson & Johnson last year, Kenvue has focused on its 15 priority brands and in February announced it would increase its advertising spending this year.

US FDA panel to discuss first psychedelic-assisted PTSD treatment next month

The U.S. FDA's panel of independent advisers will on June 4 deliberate whether they should recommend approval for the first MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, Lykos Therapeutics said on Monday. This would be the first FDA panel of outside experts to review a potential new PTSD treatment in 25 years.

US CDC asks states to make worker protective gear available to combat bird flu

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday it had met with state health officials and asked them to facilitate distribution of protective gear for farm workers to avoid infection against H5N1 bird flu. The CDC said it asked state health departments to work with their agriculture department counterparts and partners in communities to prioritize the distribution of personal protective equipment from their stockpile to workers on farms where dairy herds have been known to be infected with bird flu.

Fresenius Medical beats earnings expectations, keeps outlook; shares sink

Fresenius Medical Care beat first-quarter operating earnings expectations on Tuesday amid higher pricing and cost-cut savings, but the German company still maintained its profit outlook for 2024, sending its shares down in early trading. Adjusted operating income in the quarter surged 23% to 416 million euros ($448 million), beating the average analyst estimate of 386 million euros posted on the website of the world's biggest dialysis provider.

China lifts risk alert warning on bird flu in Serbia

China lifted the risk alert warning on bird flu in Serbia, the General Administration of Customs announced on Tuesday. "The risk alert on highly pathogenic avian influenza in Serbia will be lifted," according to a statement.

Idaho will seek to revive 'abortion trafficking' law in US appeals court

Idaho will urge a federal appeals court on Tuesday to revive a 2023 law making it a crime to help a minor cross state lines for an abortion without her parent's consent, which a judge blocked in November. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle will hear the case challenging the law brought by Lourdes Matsumoto, a lawyer and advocate who works with victims of sexual violence, and the Northwest Abortion Access Fund and Indigenous Idaho Alliance which helps people in Idaho access abortion.

Australia's CSL tests 'dynamic pricing' of donor blood amid cost surge

Australia's CSL, the world's largest producer of blood plasma products, is trialling "dynamic pricing" of payments to donors to grow profit margins amid persistently high supply costs, a senior executive said on Tuesday. CSL, one of Australia's biggest listed companies, makes most of its profit from converting the plasma of donated blood into treatments for rare diseases.

New York state sues group over abortion pill reversal claims

New York state's top prosecutor on Monday sued Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion group, and 11 crisis pregnancy centers, accusing them of misleading and potentially endangering women by claiming that they can provide a treatment reversing the effect of the abortion pill mifepristone. In the lawsuit, New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a state court in Manhattan to block Heartbeat International and the centers, located across New York state and whose mission is to discourage women from having abortions, from advertising abortion pill reversal on their websites or anywhere else and award an unspecified amount of money damages.

People with two copies of a risk gene have genetic form of Alzheimer's, scientists say

People who carry two copies of the APOE4 gene are virtually guaranteed to develop Alzheimer's and face symptoms at an earlier age, researchers reported on Monday in a study that could redefine such carriers as having a new genetic form of the mind-wasting disease. The reclassification could change Alzheimer's research, diagnosis and approaches to treatment, according to the researchers, whose study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)