NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Oct 18 (Reuters) – U.S. health
officials made their first confirmation of the presence of a
deadly fungus in one of three lots of steroids tied to a
national meningitis outbreak as the death toll rose to 20 on
Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was still
testing two additional lots of methylprednisolone acetate, the
steroid used to treat back pain, for the presence of the rare
Exserohilum fungus. It is also testing other injectable drugs
that were supplied by the New England Compounding Center (NECC)
in Massachusetts.

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Oct 18 (Reuters) – U.S. health
officials made their first confirmation of the presence of a
deadly fungus in one of three lots of steroids tied to a
national meningitis outbreak as the death toll rose to 20 on
Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was still
testing two additional lots of methylprednisolone acetate, the
steroid used to treat back pain, for the presence of the rare
Exserohilum fungus. It is also testing other injectable drugs
that were supplied by the New England Compounding Center (NECC)
in Massachusetts.

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Federal agents on Tuesday raided the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a meningitis outbreak that has killed 15 people and sickened more than 200 others, federal prosecutors said.

Agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration searched the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in the Boston suburb of Framingham, with officers from the local police department on site providing support, Framingham police said.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Intuitive Surgical Inc on Tuesday reported 22 percent growth in procedures using its da Vinci surgical robots in the third quarter that it said was below its estimate, and it lowered its full-year forecast.

Intuitive’s shares dropped more than 4 percent.

The company said it now expects 2012 procedure growth of 24 percent, down from its prior view of 25 percent to 27 percent.

NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) – A leading U.S. lawmaker called
on Tuesday for an investigation of whether the company at the
center of the deadly meningitis outbreak violated federal laws
covering potentially addictive drugs, a day after the health
scare widened to new medications.

The U.S. meningitis outbreak continues to grow and has so
far killed 15 people and infected 231, according to a tally from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two other drugs made by the Massachusetts pharmacy at the center of a deadly meningitis outbreak may be linked to the disease, U.S. health regulators said on Monday, potentially widening the scope of the health crisis.

The Food and Drug Administration said it was looking into reports of a patient with possible meningitis who received an injection of a different steroid than the one found to have caused 15 deaths. It also said two transplant patients were infected with the rare fungus linked to the meningitis outbreak after receiving a heart drug also made by the New England Compounding Center (NECC) of Framingham, Massachusetts.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – An all oral regimen of experimental hepatitis C medicines developed by Abbott Laboratories led to high cure rates in both new patients and those for whom prior treatment failed, according to initial results from a midstage study.

Shares of Abbott rose more than 3 percent after the unveiling of the data, which will be presented next month at a major liver disease meeting. The findings should help cement Abbott as a major player in the race to develop an interferon-free treatment regimen for the serious liver disease.

By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co said its experimental Alzheimer’s drug led to a 34 percent reduction in memory decline for patients with mild symptoms over a period of 18 months, giving it potential ammunition to seek approval of the medicine that failed to benefit more advanced stages of the disease.

Lilly in August said the medicine, solanezumab, did not meet the primary goal of halting progression of the memory-robbing disease in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms in two late-stage trials.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – An experimental treatment for type 2 diabetes developed by Johnson & Johnson proved effective at reducing blood sugar in patients on long-term insulin therapy and at high risk for heart problems, according to a study presented on Tuesday.

The drug, canagliflozin, also led to clinically meaningful drops in blood pressure and weight loss, both of which should be beneficial for diabetics at an elevated risk of heart problems, researchers said.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – PerkinElmer Inc (PKI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported higher-than-expected second quarter profit on Thursday as solid demand for its scientific and environmental products in the United States and emerging markets offset declines in Europe.

Bucking a trend seen with some of its peers that had to pull back on full-year forecasts, PerkinElmer maintained its 2012 outlook for earnings of $2.00 to $2.05 per share, excluding items, and for organic revenue growth in mid-single digit range.