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U.S. to help fund technology to eliminate Zika in blood supply

(Reuters) – The U.S. government said on Monday it has agreed to help fund two pathogen reduction technologies to help reduce the risk of Zika virus and other infections from being transmitted through the blood supply. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the funding will flow through its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) unit, which will provide initial funding of $30.8 million to Cerus Corp and $17.5 million to the U.S. division of Japan's Terumo Corp. Cerus's Intercept technology has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to reduce pathogens in platelets and plasma. It is conducting a trial to show it can also reduce pathogens in red blood cells.

What’s healthier than walking to work? Running to catch the bus: study

Taking the bus or train to work may be even healthier than walking, according to a new study published Sunday by the American Heart Association. “Bus/train commuters had even lower rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and overweight than the walkers or bikers,” according to a press release about the findings, which were presented at the AHA's Scientific Sessions 2015 meeting this weekend. The study, which was conducted in Japan, found that compared to drivers, public transport riders were 44 percent less likely to be overweight, 27 percent less likely to have high blood pressure and 34 percent less likely to have diabetes.

FDA approves Otsuka and Lundbeck’s schizophrenia treatment

(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Danish drugmaker H. Lundbeck A/S and Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd’s Rexulti, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia. The drug, brexpiprazole, was also approved as an adjunctive therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD), a serious psychiatric condition that can lead to persistent feelings of sadness, frustration or anger, the health regulator said on Friday. Otsuka Pharmaceutical is a unit of Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd. The agency based its decision on seven clinical trials, three of which examined the drug’s effect on schizophrenia and four testing it as an adjunctive therapy for MDD.

Toyota in damage control mode after American executive arrested

By Chang-Ran Kim and Joshua Hunt TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp moved into damage control mode on Friday after its new communications chief, an American and its first senior woman executive, was arrested on suspicion of illegally bringing pain killers into Japan just two months after her high-profile appointment. Japanese media reports on Friday quoted police investigators as saying 57 highly addictive Oxycodone pills from the United States were scattered in a small parcel addressed to Hamp in Japan and labeled “necklaces”. The former General Motors Co and PepsiCo Inc executive told police she did not think she had imported an illegal substance, a spokesman for Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department said.

Fukushima rice passes radiation tests for first time since disaster: official

TOKYO (Reuters) – Fukushima rice passed Japan’s radiation checks for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster that prompted international alarm over the region’s produce, a prefectural official said. Fukushima official Tsuneaki Oonami said about 360,000 tonnes of rice, nearly all of last year’s harvest, had been checked and none had tested above the 100 becquerels per kilogram limit set by the government. …