Month: August 2013

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis said on Wednesday its drug Afinitor did not show a survival benefit in patients with advanced liver cancer. Data from a late-stage trial found that Afinitor did not extend overall survival compared with placebo in patients with locally advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer. The study was examining the efficacy and safety of Afinitor, which is also known as everolimus, in patients whose disease had progressed after treatment with or were intolerant to Onyx and Bayer’s drug Nexavar. …

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese government official said an estimated 300 tons of contaminated water is leaking into the ocean per day from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Wednesday to step up government efforts to stem radioactive water leakage. Abe ordered the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to urgently deal with the water situation and ensure the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, takes appropriate action to deal with the cleanup, which is expected to take more than 40 years and cost $11 billion. …

By Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – China has approved its first shipment of genetically modified Argentine corn, Buenos Aires said on Tuesday. Argentine Agriculture Minister Norberto Yauhar said Chinese health authorities cleared 60,000-tonnes of genetically modified (GMO) Argentine corn. The cargo was already headed inland to be used as hog and chicken feed. Benchmark Chicago corn futures fell briefly after Reuters reported on the shipment. Argentina competes for market share with the United States, the No. 1 world corn exporter. …

(Reuters) – Glenview Capital Partners rejected hospital operator Health Management Associates Inc’s offer to add a few of the hedge fund’s nominees to its board, reiterating its demand for a complete overhaul of the board. Glenview rejected the idea of a “hybrid board” including nominees from HMA, saying a shareholder vote was already underway to decide the outcome. HMA, which is being bought by larger peer Community Health Systems Inc for $3.9 billion, has been under pressure from Glenview, which has said it wants to replace HMA’s directors and set the company on a different course. …

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Fonterra Chief Executive Officer Theo Spierings said the future of his tenure at the company following a global food safety scare is up the board of the world's largest dairy exporter. "It's not up to me to answer, that's up to the board," he told a news conference when asked if he would need to resign over the issue. He added that the company remained on track to introduce its own branded infant formula products before the end of the year in China, where formula brands have announced recalls of infant formula containing contaminated whey protein made by the company. …

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings said on Wednesday that all stocks of contaminated dairy products made and exported by the company had been taken out of the market, and there was little or no risk to consumers. After visiting China earlier this week, Spierings said the situation there had stabilized. "I said at a press conference in China that I would not leave before the situation was stable from the perspective of markets, consumers, customers and global authorities," he told reporters at the company's headquarters in Auckland. …

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand's finance minister said on Wednesday the result of dairy giant Fonterra's latest auction suggests it has suffered little impact from a recent scare over contaminated products. Finance Minister Bill English told parliament the issue would need careful handling if the company and the country were to continue to benefit from high commodity prices. …

LONDON (AP) — Chinese scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that a new bird flu strain is sometimes able to spread from person to person, but they are emphasizing that the virus still does not transmit easily.

ATLANTA (AP) — For many years, doctors have been wringing their hands as more and more U.S. children grew fat. Now, that may be changing, with the first evidence of a national decline in childhood obesity.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call on Wednesday for a stronger response to try to stop highly radioactive water leaking into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper reported. It also said the government would commit taxpayer money to halt the buildup of radioactive water at the plant. On Monday, an official from Japan's nuclear watchdog told Reuters the leakage had become an "emergency", adding that the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), was struggling to contain the problem. …

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – The first scientific analysis of probable human-to-human transmission of a deadly new strain of bird flu that emerged in China this year gives the strongest evidence yet that the H7N9 virus can pass between people, scientists said on Wednesday. Research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) analyzing a family cluster of cases of H7N9 infection in eastern China found it was very likely the virus “transmitted directly from the index patient (a 60-year-old man) to his daughter. …

(Reuters) – Mead Johnson Nutrition Co said on Tuesday it would pay a penalty of about $33 million related to a probe by China into possible price fixing and anti-competitive practices by foreign baby formula makers. The maker of Enfamil formula said that as a result of its antitrust review, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) had assessed administrative penalties against Mead Johnson and a number of other milk formula companies doing business in China. …