mRNA Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise; Sounding the Strep A Alarm; Phasing Out Tobacco

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Moderna said its investigational personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, combined with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), cut the risk of melanoma recurrence or death compared with pembrolizumab alone in a phase IIB study.

The World Health Organization (WHO) named Sir Jeremy Farrar, MBBS, DPhil, currently director of the Wellcome Trust, as its new chief scientist.

During the 2 years COVID vaccines have been available in the U.S., they have kept more than 18.5 million people out of the hospital and saved more than 3.2 million lives, according to a new study from the Commonwealth Fund.

In China, as the nation moves away from its strict COVID restrictions, hospitals are struggling to keep up amid a growing number of infections. (Washington Post)

At the same time, a Chinese healthcare app has begun selling Pfizer's COVID antiviral pill nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) in what appears to be the first retail sale of the drug there. (Reuters)

A plan to investigate the U.S. government's response to the pandemic has stalled in Congress. (New York Times)

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has been linked to COVID, and to a lesser degree, vaccines, according to a new study published in Nature Cardiovascular Research.

Health authorities are sounding the alarm when it comes to severe strep A infections, with the WHO and European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention saying Europe should be vigilant against these infections in children under the age of 10. (Reuters)

Amgen is targeting more rare disease treatments with a more than $26 billion deal to buy Horizon Therapeutics. (AP)

Progressive lawmakers are calling on CMS to prevent companies with a history of Medicare fraud from participating in ACO REACH, a redesign of the direct contracting model. (Healthcare Dive)

A mother gave up trying for another child as the result of Wisconsin's abortion ban. (NPR)

For a group of Catholic hospitals and doctors, a federal appeals court has ruled that the Biden administration can't force them to cover or perform gender transition surgeries. (The Hill)

In a Montana case, a federal judge ruled that an individual's choice to decline vaccinations does not outweigh public health and safety requirements when it comes to medical settings. (AP)

The Biden administration has approved Washington state's request to offer health insurance to undocumented immigrants. (The Hill)

After Twitter's new owner Elon Musk tweeted mocking criticism of Anthony Fauci, MD, the White House condemned social media attacks targeting the infectious disease expert, calling them "incredibly dangerous." (The Hill)

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for California to enforce a state ban on flavored tobacco products. (Reuters)

New Zealand took things a bit further, passing into law a plan that says that tobacco cannot ever be sold to any person born on or after Jan. 1, 2009. (CBS News)

Here's why special flu shots are recommended in individuals 65 or older. (Washington Post)

The FDA granted accelerated approval to adagrasib (Krazati) as a targeted treatment option for people with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with a KRAS^G12C mutation, Mirati Therapeutics announced.

When it comes to opioid settlement funds, are rural counties across the U.S. disproportionately affected by opioid addiction being overlooked? (Kaiser Health News)

Here's to pondering the question of what a good healthcare system night actually look like. (The Atlantic)

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