Reuters Health News Summary

After relying for years on its top-selling lung drug Advair, GlaxoSmithKline is now braced for the worst in the form of cheap generics - but not just yet. Chief Executive Andrew Witty said on Wednesday that the chances of cheap copies of its highly profitable inhaled medicine reaching the world's biggest market in 2016 were "vanishingly small".

Under pressure, FDA to hold public meeting on off-label use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a public meeting this summer to address drug company concern that restrictions on what they can say about off-label use of drugs violate their First Amendment right to free speech. The meeting, announced last month by FDA chief counsel Elizabeth Dickinson, comes as a bill known as 21st Century Cures, designed to speed new drugs to market, is moving through Congress. Language in the bill is adding pressure on the agency to relax its guidelines.

Venezuela says probing drugmakers for improper use of hard currency

Venezuela is investigating whether drug companies including Germany's Merck KGaA and Bayer AG have improperly profited from subsidized foreign exchange amid growing medicine shortages, the country's health minister said. Those firms have received a favorable exchange rate through Venezuela's currency controls to produce or import price-controlled medication to treat chronic ailments such as thyroid conditions, Health Minister Henry Ventura said in an interview late on Tuesday.

Despite U.S. efforts, bird flu thought to spread between farms

Poultry veterinarians in Minnesota believe an outbreak of avian flu has spread between farms, indicating the implementation of a U.S. strategy to contain the deadly bird disease failed in at least some cases. Wild birds are thought to be carriers of the flu virus, which can be tracked onto poultry farms by people or trucks that come into contact with contaminated feces. It may also be carried into barns by wind blowing in contaminated dirt or dust.

J&J to consult ethicists on requests for experimental drugs

Johnson & Johnson will become the first pharmaceutical company to formally seek advice from outside medical ethicists on "compassionate use" requests, in which desperate patients ask drugmakers to let them take an experimental medication, the company announced on Thursday. The ethicists' recommendations will be advisory, with J&J making the decision.

China launches new campaign against sex-selective abortions

China has begun a new campaign against illegal prenatal gender tests and sex-selective abortions to help address the country's gender imbalance, state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday. Like most Asian nations, China has a traditional bias for sons, who are seen the only guarantee to pass on the family line.

WHO projections warn of burgeoning obesity crisis in Europe

Europe will face an obesity crisis of vast proportions by 2030, according to new World Health Organization projections, with many countries likely to see far more than half of adults above the healthy weight limit. The figures, which predict 89 percent of Irish men and 77 percent of Greek men will be overweight by 2030, present "a worrying picture of rising obesity across Europe", researchers said, with very few countries showing decreasing trends.

Alexion to bolster rare disease offering with $8.4 billion deal

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc on Wednesday said it agreed to buy Synageva BioPharma Corp for $8.4 billion, more than twice its market value, to expand its offering of potentially high-priced medicines for rare diseases. Alexion's willingness to pay an eye-popping premium for Synageva demonstrates that the appetite for large acquisitions in healthcare continues unabated. It also highlights the attraction of medicines for rare diseases that can command exceptionally high prices with little payer pushback because of the limited number of patients.

Thailand's new weapon to beat deep-south insurgency: DNA swabs

Thailand's military government has introduced a new strategy to curb the insurgency that has rumbled on in the country's jungle-blanketed deep south for more than a decade: DNA swabbing. It has been widely panned for mishandling the economy and undermining democracy, but the top brass that seized power a year ago can point to a drop of more than 50 percent in attacks by Muslim Malay rebels across the restive region.

EU drugs agency tightens rules on experts moving to industry jobs

Europe's medicines regulator said on Wednesday it would restrict experts and committee members who intend to work for a pharmaceutical company from participating in the evaluation of medicines, in a move to reduce conflict of interests. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) updated its "revolving door" rules on the declaration of interests, including a revised guide on how to complete its declaration form. (http://bit.ly/1EPMmU7)