Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
FDA enhances warnings on group of strong antibiotics
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has enhanced warnings of side effects of a group of strong antibiotics used to treat a variety of respiratory and urinary tract infections and limited their use to patients with no alternatives. The antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones include Johnson & Johnson's Levaquin, Bayer's Cipro extended-release tablets and Merck Inc's Avelox. (http://bit.ly/2a8Xvup)
GSK chases next biotech asthma drug with $230 million J&J deal
GlaxoSmithKline has bought global rights to an experimental drug from Johnson & Johnson for up to 175 million pounds ($230 million), raising its bet on a new generation of biotech medicines for severe asthma. The British drugmaker recently launched Nucala, its first injectable biological asthma drug, and is looking for additional treatments to help more patients who are still struggling with breathing problems.
Exercise ability in middle age may be one key to longer life
Middle-aged men who have more endurance in exercise tests may end up living longer than their peers who struggle with physical activity, a Swedish study suggests. Researchers gave about 650 men an exercise test in 1967 when they were 50 years old. They asked participants to push themselves to the limit and ranked results into three groups based on low, medium or high endurance.
GSK outlook brightens as Brexit brings currency windfall
Demand for new medicines helped GlaxoSmithKline grow earnings in the second quarter and the drugmaker is set for big gains in the rest of 2016 thanks to a weak pound, after Britain's vote to leave the European Union. GSK, whose outgoing chief executive Andrew Witty had backed Britain staying in the EU, will benefit from the fact that many of its costs are in sterling while it earns nearly all its money overseas.
Anthem profit beats estimates as Medicaid memberships rise
U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc reported a better-than-expected profit as enrolments rose in its Medicaid plans, which cater to low-income Americans. The company, whose proposed acquisition of rival Cigna Corp is being challenged by U.S. antitrust authorities, said overall memberships increased 3.2 percent in the second quarter.
Lilly CEO Lechleiter to retire; David Ricks to succeed
U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said on Wednesday John Lechleiter, its chief executive of eight years, would retire by the end of the year and would be succeeded by senior vice president David Ricks on January 1. Lechleiter, who became the CEO in April 2008, has steered the company through a steep patent cliff by reinvigorating its pipeline.
Recro Pharma's intravenous painkiller succeeds in trial, shares soar
Recro Pharma Inc said an intravenous version of its lead painkiller was successful in the first of two pivotal late-stage trials, sending the company's shares surging 50 percent in trading after the bell. The drug, Meloxicam, was being evaluated to treat acute pain in patients after a bunionectomy surgery, which involves removing or realigning soft tissue and bones in the joint of the big toe.
TauRx Alzheimer's drug fails in large study; some benefit seen
TauRx Pharmaceuticals' experimental Alzheimer's drug LMTX failed to improve cognitive and functional skills in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, a large, late-stage study showed. But in a perplexing twist, the drug did show a significant benefit in about 15 percent of patients in the trial who were not taking other standard Alzheimer's drugs, according to the findings released on Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto.
U.S. opens door to a change in blood donation policy for gay men
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration opened the door on Tuesday to a change in its blood donor deferral recommendations, which currently prohibit donations from gay men for a year following their last sexual encounter in order to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In December the FDA overturned a 30-year ban on all blood donations from men who have sex with men, saying the change was based on science showing an indefinite ban was not necessary to prevent transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus.
Honduras detects 8 cases of babies with Zika-related defect
Health officials in the Central American nation of Honduras on Tuesday reported eight cases of newborns with microcephaly born to women who were infected with the Zika virus during pregnancy. Honduran Health Minister Yolani Batres told reporters six of the cases of microcephaly were in the south of Honduras, one near the border with El Salvador and two more in the capital. Two other cases had been previously reported in Honduras.
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