Amidst the battle against a new infectious threat, the fight against tuberculosis, one of humankind’s oldest recorded infectious diseases, is also progressing. Pretomanid – only the second TB drug to hit the market in over two decades – received conditional marketing approval Monday from the European Commission as part of a new, three-drug treatment regimen […] Continue reading ->
The racing sport Formula 1 (F1) has made more than US $4.4 billion in advertising and sponsorship from tobacco companies in the past seven decades, according to a report published by F1 industry monitor Formula Money and global tobacco industry watchdog STOP. The first-ever analysis of its kind, Driving Addiction: F1 and Tobacco Advertising, was published just […] Continue reading ->
Four months after South Africa implemented one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, it appears that neither lives nor livelihoods have been spared. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was widely praised for taking decisive action when he introduced one of the fastest and strictest lockdowns in the world in late March. Within three weeks […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations Interagency Coordination Group (IACG) is seeking candidates for a “One Health Global Leaders Group” that will be established to fight the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Individuals from civil society and the private sector are invited to submit an application to serve in the Global Leaders Group by 31 August 2020. […] Continue reading ->
Big pharma has reaped billions in profit off the back of European orphan drug regulations that are supposed to incentivize R&D for rare diseases, according to an analysis of 120 orphan medicines registered in the EU over the past two decades. Instead of incentivizing R&D for rare maladies, the EU’s orphan drug legislation has turned […] Continue reading ->
People who tested positive for COVID-19 had lower Vitamin D levels on average than people who tested negative, according to a massive peer-reviewed Israeli study published in the FEBS Journal. The study found that the average plasma Vitamin D level – or the level of vitamin D in the liquid part of the blood – […] Continue reading ->
First in a series of stories about how the coronavirus lockdowns and relaxations are playing out in different parts of Africa. Ibadan, Nigeria – While Lagos and Abuja capital city continue to be the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria accounting for nearly half of confirmed cases, Oyo State is also generating a buzz. […] Continue reading ->
Italy has become the first nation to require pharmaceutical companies to disclose secret data about any public subsidies it may have received for the development of a new drug, during negotiations over drug pricing and reimbursement with national regulatory authorities, according to a decree published Friday in the nation’s official gazette. The decree, following on […] Continue reading ->
In a landmark achievement, incidence of chronic hepatitis B has successfully dropped below 1% in children under five, reaching the 2020 goal set at the 2016 World Health Assembly, said World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus on Monday. The target reduction in hepatitis B virus (HBV) incidence in children was met in 2019, […] Continue reading ->
Moderna, a frontrunner in the COVID-19 vaccine development race, today entered the final phase of testing required before pursuing regulatory approval, beginning the Phase III trial for their vaccine candidate mRNA-1273. The trial, titled COVE (Coronavirus Efficacy), will measure how well a 100 microgram dose of the vaccine can protect people against developing symptomatic COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->