French healthcare company Sanofi said it would stop further work on amcenestrant, once seen to have large potential against breast cancer, after a second trial failure dealt a major blow to its drug development prospects.

Australian shares inched higher on Wednesday, after the country's wage data missed estimates presenting a case for the Reserve Bank of Australia to rein in the pace of rate hikes, even as poor annual results from biotech giant CSL Ltd capped the gains.

Australian biotech giant CSL Ltd said annual profit fell due to declining donations of blood plasma, the key ingredient of its products, and flagged higher staffing costs as collection volumes returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Australian biomedical giant CSL Ltd on Wednesday reported a 6% drop in annual profit as collections of plasma, the key ingredient of its treatments, were subdued in the first half and hit sales of core plasma therapies.

South Korea agreed on Tuesday to expand its global health partnership with the foundation set up by Microsoft Corp co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

* UK's JCVI backs using bivalent shot in autumn booster campaign

The United Kingdom's COVID booster campaign is set to kick off this September, after the country became the first in the world to approve an Omicron-adapted shot.

The United Kingdom's COVID booster campaign is set to kick off this September, after the country became the first in the world to approve an Omicron-adapted shot.

All adults in the United Kingdom will be offered a COVID-19 booster starting from September, UK health officials said, hours after the country became the first to approve a Omicron-adapted https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/variant-adapted-covid-vaccine-wins-first-approval-britain-2022-08-15 shot globally.

Novavax Inc said on Monday it had filed for U.S. authorization for use of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose in people who had either received its shots or a different vaccine.