Reuters Health News Summary

08/01/2016 8:58

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Zika will not be issue at Olympics: Rio health official

The risk of Zika virus infections at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is low and has been overcome, health officials in Brazil said on Sunday, five days before South America's first Games are due to begin. Rio de Janeiro's health secretary, Daniel Soranz, said Zika should not deter travelers from coming to the Games, as cases of the virus had dipped significantly in recent months.

GSK and Google parent forge $715 million bioelectronic medicines firm

GlaxoSmithKline and Google parent Alphabet's life sciences unit are creating a new company focused on fighting diseases by targeting electrical signals in the body, jump-starting a novel field of medicine called bioelectronics. Verily Life Sciences - known as Google's life sciences unit until last year - and Britain's biggest drugmaker will together contribute 540 million pounds ($715 million) over seven years to Galvani Bioelectronics, they said on Monday.

Biogen pays Ionis $75 million to develop muscle drug after trial success

Biogen Inc said it would exercise an option to develop and commercialize an experimental genetic muscle-disorder drug after an interim analysis of late-stage data showed patients experienced statistically significant improvement in symptoms. The drug, nusinersen, was being developed by Biogen in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc, to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disease affecting the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement.

Keryx withdraws 2016 forecast on renal drug supply disruption

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc said it was withdrawing its full-year forecast due to issues related to the production of its only approved drug, Auryxia. The company's shares fell by nearly a third to $5.11 in premarket trading on Monday.

More locally transmitted Zika in U.S. expected: official

The United States will likely see more cases of local Zika virus transmission going forward, a U.S. health official warned on Sunday, although it is unlikely to turn into a broader situation as seen in Brazil or Puerto Rico. The comments comes after Florida authorities on Friday reported the first sign of local transmission in the continental United States, concluding that mosquitoes likely infected four people with the virus that can cause a serious birth defect.

UK urges pregnant women to reconsider travel to Zika-hit Florida

British health officials have urged pregnant women to consider postponing non-essential travel to Florida after the southern U.S. state confirmed the first cases of the Zika virus that were not linked to travel. Florida, a popular holiday destination for Britons, reported four cases of local transmission on Friday. Officials said that those infected had probably been bitten by a mosquito, and said they suspected the cases originated in a one-square-mile area north of downtown Miami.

08/01/2016 8:58