Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Travere licenses Everest's kidney disease drug in deal worth up to $1.14 billion

Travere Therapeutics said on Tuesday it has signed a licensing pact with privately held biotech Everest Medicines to develop and commercialize an experimental kidney disease drug in a deal worth up to $1.14 billion. Here are some details:

Fulcrum plummets over 50% ​after scrapping lead sickle-cell drug on FDA concerns

Shares of Fulcrum Therapeutics plunged 52% on Tuesday after the company said it would abandon development of its experimental sickle-cell disease drug following cancer-risk concerns raised by the U.S. FDA, and explore strategic ​options including a potential sale or merger. The oral drug, pociredir, was being tested to treat sickle-cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that can trigger pain, anemia and ‌organ damage and reduce ​life expectancy.

WHO says suspected Ebola cases drop to 116 after hundreds ruled out

The World Health Organization said there have been 321 confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak and 116 suspected cases, marking a large drop in the number of suspected cases as hundreds were ruled out after investigation. The agency said on Tuesday there had been 48 deaths and six people had recovered in Congo. The Congolese authorities first put out the new case numbers on Monday.

Five US passengers from hantavirus-hit ship return to home states

Five U.S. residents who were on the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship have returned to their home states following three weeks of monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit, the University of Nebraska Medical Center said on Tuesday, while 13 passengers remain ‌under observation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had requested that the individuals from the cruise ship remain at the NQU through May 31.

Factbox-What Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines and treatments are under development

Global health authorities are racing to identify medical options to help contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. Unlike for the more common Zaire strain, there are no approved vaccines or treatments for Bundibugyo.

China recognises Brazil as foot-and-mouth disease free, lifts bans

China's customs agency said it has lifted bans related to foot-and-mouth disease in northern Brazil, and recognises the whole of Brazil as free of the disease, according to an official notice released on Tuesday. The announcement is good news for Brazil, the world's largest beef and chicken exporter, which sent more than half of its beef exports to China last year.

Celcuity plunges after experimental breast cancer treatment data disappoints

Celcuity shares slumped 25%, set for their biggest one-day decline, on Tuesday after its experimental breast cancer treatment extended the period of time a patient lives without the disease worsening but underperformed a previous trial. The ‌drug, gedatolisib, in combination with Pfizer's Ibrance and AstraZeneca's endocrine therapy Faslodex was tested in advanced breast cancer patients with a confirmed mutation in a type of gene called PIK3CA.

Moderna and other groups get $60 million to develop Ebola vaccine

Global health organisation CEPI will give roughly $60 million to Moderna and two other groups to accelerate the development of shots against Ebola Bundibugyo, the deadly virus that has swept through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations was one of the early investors that ‌helped to develop a vaccine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GIC-backed Asia Healthcare eyes IPO within 12-18 months, cautious on market volatility

Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH) is considering listing its shares within the next 12 to 18 months, although it remains wary of market volatility, Executive Chairman Vishal Bali said. The company, which is backed by Singapore's GIC and TPG and has invested more than $300 million in healthcare businesses over the past decade, continues to monitor market trends closely before taking a final decision on an IPO, Bali told Reuters in an interview.

Abivax shares sink after key trial results for inflammatory bowel drug

Abivax shares tumbled on Tuesday after the French biotech reported late-stage data for its experimental inflammatory bowel drug, with investors focusing on safety concerns even as the treatment showed strong efficacy. The shares were down 30% in early Paris trading, leading losses on Europe's STOXX 600 benchmark index, after a spectacular rally last year that saw the stock rise more than 16-fold.

US FDA proposes using existing science to speed up gene therapy development

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed allowing makers of cell and gene therapies targeting rare and life-threatening diseases to use existing scientific knowledge to expedite development. Here are a few details:

US to re-engage with Gavi vaccine alliance amid Ebola outbreak, Rubio says

U.S. Secretary of State Marco ⁠Rubio said on Tuesday that ​the U.S. would re-engage with the global vaccine alliance Gavi amid the Ebola outbreak in several African countries. Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that ⁠the decision had been made a few weeks ago to re-engage, after the Trump administration pulled funding from Gavi last year.

Rubio says US is considering naming official to run Ebola response

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a House of Representatives committee on Tuesday that the Trump administration is considering appointing a single official to coordinate its response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa. "I don't want to use the term 'Ebola czar', but (it would be) someone with the qualifications to sort of serve full time in the coordination of the interagency," Rubio said, adding "a couple of people" were being considered for the role.

Flesh-eating screwworm detected 25 miles from ⁠US border in Mexico, USDA says

A parasitic fly that eats warm-blooded animals alive and could cause millions of dollars in economic damage was found in Mexico within 25 miles of the U.S. border, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday. The detection of New World Screwworm in a five-year-old goat in Mexico's Coahuila state further increases the threat facing the U.S. beef industry and cattle ranchers, who have monitored the flesh-eating fly's northward progress through Mexico for over a year. This is the closest confirmed case to the U.S. border during the most recent outbreak, Rollins told reporters on a call.

Health ​officials oppose US plan to treat Ebola-exposed Americans overseas

Healthcare officials in the U.S., including former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, on Monday warned Congress against adopting a proposed policy to treat Americans exposed to Ebola in Kenya or countries in the European Union. The officials, including infectious disease physician Krutika Kuppalli, emergency physicians Debra Houry and Craig Spencer, and epidemiologist Anne Schuchat, argued in an open letter the policy would be a departure from the longstanding practice ⁠of medical repatriation and raise serious clinical risks.

Congo re-opens airport at centre of Ebola outbreak

Democratic Republic of Congo has re-opened the airport in the capital city of the province hit hardest by the ongoing Ebola outbreak, a government statement said, reversing a move that some residents said had cut them off from critical supplies. The government in Kinshasa announced last month that it was suspending passenger flights to Bunia, the main airport in Ituri, where the first Ebola cases were confirmed. Humanitarian and medical flights continued subject to approvals.

Legend's experimental cell therapy shows promise in blood cancer patients

Legend Biotech's experimental therapy showed early signs that its approach of generating disease-fighting cells within patients may work for ⁠a ​type of blood cancer, sending shares of the company up nearly 30%. Unlike traditional CAR-T therapies that require extracting, modifying and reinfusing a patient's immune cells, Legend aims to generate them inside the body using its in vivo dual-targeting therapy, LB2501.

FDA declines to approve Cingulate's ADHD treatment over manufacturing issues

Drug developer Cingulate said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, citing manufacturing-related concerns. In its complete response letter, the FDA did not flag any concerns about the drug's safety or effectiveness, Cingulate said.

US regulator approves oral drug from Japan's Shionogi to prevent COVID-19

Japan's Shionogi & Co said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its oral antiviral Ensitrelvir, commercially known as Xocova, for the preventive treatment of individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19. "XOCOVA is the first and only oral option clinically proven to help prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after exposure among study participants regardless of vaccination status," Nathan McCutcheon, CEO of Shionogi's U.S. unit, said in a statement.

Uganda health ministry confirms six new cases of Ebola

Uganda has confirmed ⁠six more new cases of Ebola, bringing the total confirmed in the country so far to 15, the health ministry said on Tuesday, as the U.N. migration agency warned that border closures may increase the risk of the virus spreading. Uganda's health ministry said in a statement on its X account that the six new cases were contacts of other confirmed cases. It said to date there were two discharges from hospital, with 12 people admitted and one death.

Protests over US Ebola site ⁠in Kenya kill two, court keeps suspension

A Kenyan court blocked on Tuesday for another three weeks a proposed U.S. Ebola quarantine facility that has ⁠triggered protests in which two people were killed, and ordered the government to disclose its agreement with Washington. The proposed 50-bed unit on an air force base in central Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus in Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda has angered many Kenyans. They accuse the U.S. of offloading the health risk of caring for patients.

Ebola recoveries bring signs of hope in DRC as suspected cases emerge outside Africa

Four nurses who were being treated for Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus have been discharged from a hospital in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo after recovering from the disease, the World Health Organization said on Sunday. More recoveries are expected, especially when people are diagnosed early and able to access care, and as the response ‌to the outbreak intensifies.

WHO chief wraps up visit to Ebola-hit Congo, briefs president on response

The head ‌of the World Health Organization on Monday concluded his visit to Democratic Republic of Congo by briefing the president on the response to the Ebola outbreak, which an aid agency warned was likely much larger than official figures show. The outbreak, already the third-largest on ​record, persisted for weeks undetected, say health officials, who are now behind the curve and struggling to bring it under control.

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