This story was updated 4 June to reflect the Lancet study’s retraction. Enrollment of new patients in the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) arm of the World Health Organization’s Global COVID-19 Solidarity Trial will be put on pause, as the trial’s oversight committee reviews all available data on COVID-19 and hydroxychloroquine, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said […] Continue reading ->
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  The study was retracted by three of its authors on June 4, due to […] Continue reading -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 countries cautiously begin to lift lockdown measures, WHO Executive Director for Health Emergencies Mike Ryan has again warned that serological studies were presenting increasing evidence that a ‘herd immunity’ approach to mitigating the effects of further waves of infection would not be effective.  Herd immunity occurs when a large enough proportion of the population […] 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 ->