Reuters - Health Report

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Friday, August 4, 2017

Senate reauthorizes FDA to collect fees from drugmakers

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill allowing the Food and Drug Administration to continue collecting fees from drug companies to review new product applications.

Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS turn up the heat on generic drugmaker deals

(Reuters) - The largest U.S. retail pharmacies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, are wielding more leverage when buying generic drugs, accelerating a decline in prices likely to affect drug companies for some time, industry experts said on Thursday.

Aldi stores in Germany stop selling eggs amid Dutch food safety scare

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Discount supermarket chain Aldi, which has more than 4,000 stores in Germany, said on Friday it was pulling all eggs from store shelves in the country as a precaution after a scare over the possible contamination of eggs from the Netherlands.

Health insurer Aetna profit rises as Obamacare business shrinks

(Reuters) - Aetna Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as member health costs were lower than anticipated and it benefited from exiting most of its Obamacare individual insurance markets this year.

Bristol-Myers to buy IFM Therapeutics to strengthen cancer pipeline

(Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co said it would buy privately held IFM Therapeutics for an upfront payment of $300 million, as the drugmaker looks to bolster its cancer portfolio after losing ground to Merck & Co's rival treatment Keytruda.

Regeneron beats profit view, to end antibody deal with Sanofi

(Reuters) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc reported a much better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong demand for its flagship Eylea drug and said it would end one of its agreements with France's Sanofi SA to develop antibodies by the end of the year.

Shire may spin off hyperactivity drugs, raises forecasts

LONDON (Reuters) - Shire, the London-listed pharmaceutical firm built up by acquisitions, said it might spin off its hyperactivity drugs business into a separate company and focus solely on rare disease treatments.

FDA approves AbbVie's hepatitis C drug

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved AbbVie Inc's drug to treat certain adults with chronic hepatitis C.

U.S. scientists able to alter genes of human embryos

U.S. scientists have succeeded in altering the genes of a human embryo to correct a disease-causing mutation, making it possible to prevent the defect from being passed on to future generations.

U.S. governors urge Trump to make insurance payments

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican U.S. governors on Wednesday urged the Trump administration, as well as Congress, to continue funding payments to health insurance companies that make Obamacare plans affordable, calling it critical to stabilizing the insurance marketplace.