Health Sector Highlights: FDA Bird Flu Tests, AI Drug Development, and Diabetes Drug Approvals

Breaking health news includes the FDA testing bird flu in milk samples across 17 states, Sanofi’s partnership with OpenAI for AI-driven drug development, and Eli Lilly's diabetes drug tirzepatide receiving approval in China. Additionally, GSK faces a whistleblower lawsuit, and AstraZeneca targets $80 billion revenue by 2030.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

US FDA tested retail milk samples for bird flu in 17 states

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that it tested retail samples of milk and other dairy products in 17 states for viable bird flu virus, providing further details about the locations of the previously disclosed tests. The regulator said it collected 297 samples at retail locations in 17 states between April 18-22, but the retail samples represented products made at 132 processing locations in 38 states.

Sanofi partners with OpenAI, Formation Bio on AI-driven drug development

French drugmaker Sanofi on Tuesday announced it is collaborating with artificial intelligence company OpenAI and Formation Bio to boost its drug development projects through the use of Artificial Intelligence. Sanofi said in a statement that the partnership with OpenAi will allow it to access proprietary data to develop AI models for its biopharma models, while Formation Bio will provide additional engineering resources.

Eli Lilly's diabetes drug tirzepatide gets approval in China

Eli Lilly said on Tuesday its diabetes drug tirzepatide has received approval from Chinese regulators, setting up intensifying competition with its Danish rival Novo Nordisk in the key Asian market. Novo Nordisk's popular diabetes drug Ozempic won approval from China in 2021 and the company saw sales of the weekly injection in the greater China region that includes Hong Kong and Taiwan double to 4.8 billion Danish Krone ($698 million) last year.

GSK whistleblower claims drugmaker cheated US government over Zantac cancer risk

GSK has been sued by an independent Connecticut laboratory that accused the drugmaker of defrauding the U.S. government and taxpayers by concealing cancer risks in Zantac, once a blockbuster heartburn drug. In a whistleblower complaint filed on Monday, Valisure said GSK violated the federal False Claims Act by hiding the risks for nearly four decades while Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs covered billions of dollars of prescriptions.

Aktis to collaborate with Eli Lilly on cancer therapies

Aktis Oncology said on Tuesday it will collaborate with Eli Lilly to develop cancer therapies, making it eligible for milestone payments of up to $1.1 billion and royalties on sales.

The Boston-based drug developer will use its proprietary technology along with Lilly's expertise in oncology drugs to develop therapies for a range of solid tumors.

GSK's experimental drug shows promise in reducing severe asthma attacks

GSK's experimental drug met its primary goal of reducing asthma attacks in a late-stage trial, marking a bright spot for a treatment that the British drugmaker expects to make peak annual sales of 3 billion pounds ($3.81 billion). The drug, called depemokimab, showed "significant and meaningful reductions" in asthma attacks for patients with eosinophilic asthma, GSK said on Tuesday.

UK announces compensation package for blood scandal victims

Britain said on Tuesday it would begin making further interim compensation payments to the victims of the contaminated blood and blood products scandal. "The government will be making further interim payments ahead of the establishment of the full scheme," minister John Glen told parliament, a day after a damning report blamed successive governments, officials and doctors for failures that resulted in more than 3,000 deaths.

Nestle set to sell $5 pizza, sandwiches for Wegovy, Ozempic users

Nestle will market a new, $5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss. The world's biggest food company, which sells DiGiorno pizza and Stouffer's meals to major grocers, said it developed the new products with more protein, iron and calcium for people taking the wildly popular appetite-suppressing drugs, called GLP-1 agonists.

Genetic profile may predict best response to weight-loss drug Wegovy

Certain genes may identify patients with obesity who are most likely to respond strongly to Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy, researchers reported on Monday. The study, released at the Digestive Disease Week meeting in Washington, found a 95% likelihood that patients with this genetic profile would be strong responders to the treatment.

AstraZeneca aims for $80 billion in total revenue by 2030

AstraZeneca aims to grow revenue by about 75% to $80 billion by 2030, it said on Tuesday, boosted by the expected launch of 20 new medicines and through growth in its cancer, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease portfolio. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker had reported total revenue of $45.81 billion last year and earlier expected to launch at least 15 new medicines between 2023 and 2030.

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