Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Nestle to buy medical device company Phagenesis in stages
Nestle announced a deal on Thursday to buy Phagenesis, a British medical device company working on a new treatment for dysphagia, a condition where patients are unable to swallow safely. Nestle Health Science will make an undisclosed upfront payment, followed by milestone-based funding, while Phagenesis completes evaluation of its Phagenyx device that uses electrical stimulation to help sufferers regain control of swallowing.
Novo Nordisk's veteran CEO Lars Rebien Sorensen to step down
Novo Nordisk's long-serving chief executive Lars Rebien Sorensen is to step down early, it was announced on Thursday, at a time when the world's largest insulin maker has said it faces increased competition in the U.S. market where it generates about half its revenues. The company said Rebien Sorensen will be succeeded from January by Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, currently executive vice president and head of corporate development.
China steps up arrivals checks from Singapore amid Zika outbreak
China intensified its checks on people and goods arriving from Singapore on Thursday, as an outbreak of the Zika virus in the small city-state was confirmed to have spread to at least one person in neighboring Malaysia. Singapore is the only Asian country with an active transmission of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is a particular risk to pregnant women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Study finds strong link between Zika and Guillain-Barre
A comparison of rates of Guillain-Barre syndrome before and after Zika arrived in seven countries has found a strong association between the virus and the illness, researchers from the Pan American Health Organization said on Wednesday. The current Zika outbreak was first detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas and the Caribbean.
Roche's new-drug strategy buoyed by lung-cancer study
Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, seeking to expand uses for its drug Tecentriq beyond bladder cancer, said on Thursday a study had shown the new immunotherapy helped people with lung cancer live longer than with chemotherapy. The world's biggest maker of cancer drugs is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Tecentriq for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer as early as October. It won the regulator's blessing in May for its use in bladder cancer.
Six Bangladeshi nationals in Singapore infected with Zika
Six Bangladeshi nationals have been tested positive with the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Singapore, the High Commission of Bangladesh said on Thursday. "We have been informed yesterday by MOH (the Ministry of Health) that of those tested positive, as of 12 noon on 30 August, 6 are Bangladeshi nationals," Mahbub Uz Zaman, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Singapore told Reuters by email.
UK government condemns 'irresponsible' English five-day doctor strike
British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Thursday condemned as "totally irresponsible" a plan by English junior doctors to hold a five-day strike after the industry's trade union escalated a long-running dispute with the government. The British Medical Association (BMA) trade union on Wednesday backed plans for a full walkout of junior doctors from 0700 GMT to 1600 GMT for five days from Sept. 12, the longest in the near 70-year history of the National Health Service.
'Not out of the woods yet' in yellow fever outbreak in Angola, Congo: WHO
Some 6,000 people in Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo may be infected with yellow fever, six times the number of confirmed cases, but no new infections have been found since July 12, an "extremely positive" trend, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The looming rainy season has raised fears of further spread of the worst outbreak in decades of the mosquito-borne haemorrhagic virus among unprotected African populations.
Novartis to disband cell & gene therapy unit, 120 jobs to go
Novartis is folding activities of its Cell and Gene Therapy unit into other business and research locations, eliminating 120 positions, the Swiss drugmaker said on Wednesday. The move intensifies a corporate makeover begun this year as it focuses on high-growth areas including cancer immunotherapy.
China says 21 of its nationals in Singapore infected with Zika
China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that its embassy in Singapore had been informed by the island state's health ministry that 21 Chinese nationals in the country are confirmed to have been infected with Zika. In a statement sent to Reuters, the foreign ministry added that the health situation was not serious and that some of them had recovered.
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