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As humanitarian needs grow, USAID chief says the world must act

More complex humanitarian disasters such as the war in Syria and the Ebola epidemic threaten to overwhelm the international community's ability to respond, the head of the leading U.S. aid agency told Reuters in an interview. Gayle Smith, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), described a global humanitarian system stretched to the limit by the number of disasters and a growing funding gap compounded by emergency responses that cost more than traditional relief methods. “This is not the time to cut resources,” Smith said.

Colombia reports first two Zika-linked microcephaly cases

Colombian health authorities on Thursday reported the country's first two cases of microcephaly associated with Zika, the day after US scientists concluded the virus can cause babies to be born with abnormally small heads. Colombia has the second largest number of Zika cases in Latin America after Brazil, putting it on the leading edge of a mosquito-borne epidemic that has spread as far north as the United States. “Colombia confirmed the two first cases of microcephaly associated with Zika,” Colombia's public health ministry said in a statement.

Exclusive: Lazard works with Sanofi on $12.7 billion animal health unit deal – sources

By Pamela Barbaglia, Olivia Oran and Arno Schuetze LONDON/NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Investment bank Lazard is working with Sanofi's management to prepare a sale or listing of its Merial animal health unit, aiming to land the leading advisory job for the deal, which could value the business at up 12 billion euros ($12.7 billion), sources familiar with the matter said. Lazard is expected to win the role for the so-called dual-track process having helped Sanofi's management in the ongoing review, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Sanofi and Lazard declined to comment.

FDA eye drug rebuff adds to Shire’s woes in Baxalta pursuit

(Reuters) – Shire Plc suffered a setback for its most important pipeline medicine late on Friday, adding to the group's problems as it pursues Baxalta Inc to forge the leading global specialist in rare diseases. The Irish company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had declined to approve its new eye drug lifitegrast and had requested an additional clinical study. The news comes just over a week before the FDA was supposed to make a decision on the treatment for dry eye disease, which analysts have penciled in as a potential $1 billion-a-year-plus seller.