Low and middle-income countries urgently need affordable personal protective equipment, diagnostics, treatments and vaccines to ward off even bigger waves of COVID-19 infection and mortality – and global production capacity is failing to ensure timely supply even of those products now on the market. Now, more than ever, producers in poor countries need to be […] Continue reading ->
This story was updated 4 June to reflect the paper’s retraction. New research published in The Lancet on Friday found that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine has ‘no benefit’ for coronavirus patients, and could even increase the risk of heart arrhythmias and mortality.  The study was retracted by three of its authors on June 4, due to […] Continue reading ->
Now, more than ever, the pharma industry has been thrust into the limelight – as the world races to find new drugs and a hoped-for vaccine to beat COVID-19 and ensure universal access to critical treatment. Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), talks about the old-new tensions […] Continue reading ->
Amidst the global shortage of ventilators, personal protective equipment, and diagnostics; sedatives, used to keep severe COVID-19 patients who require invasive ventilation continuously sedated, are in increasingly short supply around the United States. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Fresenius Propoven 2% (propofol 20 mg/mL) […] Continue reading ->
As the 73rd World Health Assembly approaches, the European Union-sponsored draft resolution on the COVID-19 response is gathering steam and storm as it rolls closer to the planned opening of the Assembly on 18 May – with far less clarity about how it might actually hit the shores of the public debate.  The resolution aims […] Continue reading ->
Research into traditional medicines for COVID-19 should be welcomed, so long as it is held to the same standards as research into other drug candidates, the World Health Organization Africa Regional Office expressed in a statement issued Monday. The diplomatically-framed WHO statement came after widespread media coverage of Madagascar’s president and other African leaders over […] Continue reading ->
Routine vaccine campaigns, suspended worldwide in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns, must be resumed immediately or else some countries could face a big surge in deaths from other preventable diseases, said Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Berkley warned that routine immunizations for other infectious diseases such […] Continue reading ->