Genmab and Johnson & Johnson 'love' partnership as some ponder takeover

LONDON (Reuters) - Genmab was Europe's second biggest biotech company, until its partner Johnson & Johnson bought Switzerland's Actelion for $30 billion this year and propelled the Danish antibody specialist to the top spot.

Cancer drug prompts 'drastic' HIV decrease in lung cancer patient

LONDON, (Reuters) - Doctors in France have found the first evidence that a drug normally used to treat lung, kidney or skin cancer may be able to eradicate HIV-infected cells in people with the AIDS virus.

Foundation's cancer gene test gets U.S. FDA and Medicare nod

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A test from Foundation Medicine Inc that can detect cancer-causing mutations in 324 genes has won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agencies said.

Marriage linked to lower dementia risk

(Reuters Health) - Being married, or ever having been married, comes with a much lower risk of developing dementia compared to being a lifelong bachelor or bachelorette, a new analysis of previous studies suggests.

Foundation Medicine gets nod from FDA and Medicare for cancer test

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A test from Foundation Medicine Inc that can detect cancer-causing mutations in 324 genes has won simultaneous approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agencies said in a statement on Thursday.

Exclusive: U.S. health regulator Verma eyes new methods for drug pricing

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government is considering setting new payment methods aimed at curbing costs for Medicare and Medicaid coverage of breakthrough medical treatments with very high prices, particularly novel gene-based therapies for cancer and other diseases, a top health official said on Thursday.

Some hospital services may be expendable on weekends

(Reuters Health) - Removing allied healthcare services from hospitals on weekends may not affect patient outcomes, suggests a new Australian study.

Lawsuit seeks to block Illinois abortion coverage expansion

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Abortion opponents in Illinois filed a lawsuit on Thursday to block a recently approved law expanding state-funded coverage of abortions for low-income Medicaid recipients and state workers.

‘Overlapping’ neurosurgery not tied to higher complication or death rates

(Reuters Health) – Most neurosurgery patients are no more likely to die or suffer serious complications when their surgeon is involved in more than one operation at the same time, a recent U.S. study suggests.

Hospital quality-control program tied to rise in heart failure deaths

(Reuters Health) - Financial penalties designed to encourage hospitals to avoid repeat hospitalizations are working, but they’re also associated with higher mortality rates for patients with heart failure, a U.S. study suggests.

FDA clears first medical device accessory for Apple Watch

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday cleared a device embedded in an Apple Inc watch band that monitors a user's heart rate, detects when something is amiss and prompts the user to take an electrocardiogram.

France stops large shipment of radioactive Belarus mushrooms

PARIS (Reuters) - France has stopped a large shipment of Belarus mushrooms contaminated with low-level radioactivity probably from Chernobyl and not linked to a radioactive cloud that appeared in southern Russia last month, officials said on Thursday.

Farmers harder hit by opioid crisis than rest of rural U.S.: survey

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The opioid crisis in the United States is impacting farm and ranch families more acutely than their rural neighbors, according to a survey published by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Farmers Union on Thursday.