To mark World Mosquito Day, 20 August, the Global Health Priority Box has been launched to provide free access to 240 compounds to stimulate research into new drugs and insecticides.  The initiative, launched by the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), provides scientists with starting points to advance the […] Continue reading ->
An expert panel of advisers to the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that countries consider a second COVID-19 booster dose for older, at-risk and immunocompromised people, echoing guidance provided by European and U.S. regulators months earlier. WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization released its updated recommendations on Thursday, a week after […] Continue reading ->
Top executives at Bavarian Nordic, which makes the world’s only monkeypox vaccine, avoided news media in the face of a worldwide shortage of their product. But SIGA, the company behind the antiviral treatment Tecovirimat (TPOXX™), has not been so shy. In an exclusive interview, SIGA’s CEO, Phillip Gomez, says the small, speciality firm is  prepared […] Continue reading ->
Recent reforms to the World Health Organization “prequalification” program that certifies the safety and efficacy of health products procured in bulk by donors for low and middle-income countries have speeded up the process and thus accelerated access to lifesaving medicines and diagnostic tools in low- and middle-income countries. However, long lead times for product approvals, […] Continue reading ->
In the aftermath of a national health emergency declaration for Monkeypox, the United States has now decided to split the approved MVA-BN vaccine into five doses in an effort to stretch supply.  Some experts, however, have warned that the plan may backfire if health workers are not sufficiently trained in the intradermal skin-based jab technique […] Continue reading ->
The United States is considering shifting to intradermal injections of Monkeypox vaccine that could potentially stretch one dose of the approved MVA-BN vaccine, available only in limited quantities, into five doses, said US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf on Thursday. He was speaking at a press briefing minutes after Xavier Becerra, US Secretary […] Continue reading ->
High income countries like the United States and Canada are casting a wide net in their vaccine strategy for monkeypox, vaccinating people exposed to an infected case and groups at risk of exposure while scrambling to study the results in terms of efficacy.  That was the upshot of a WHO-sponsored symposium on monkeypox research involving […] Continue reading ->
The manufacturer of the world’s only vaccine approved for monkeypox, Bavarian Nordic, closed its European vaccine production plant this spring and won’t reopen again until late 2022 – leading to a global monkeypox vaccine shortage, Health Policy Watch has learned. With only 16.4 million doses of the MVA-BN vaccine available worldwide, it is unclear how […] Continue reading ->
MONTREAL – Ninety countries will benefit from a voluntary licensing agreement announced on Thursday that will enable generic companies to produce a long-acting injectable antiretroviral, cabotegravir (CAB-LA), to protect people from HIV infection. CAB-LA’s manufacturer, UK pharmaceutical company ViiV, has given the license to the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for patents in least-developed, low-income, lower-middle-income […] Continue reading ->
About 10% of people with Monkeypox require hospitalization and children are at the highest risk of severe disease, says WHO. Meanwhile, there are only about 1 million doses of the EMA and US FDA-approved MVA-BN vaccine readily available today across the globe – but that vaccine is also untested against monkeypox at large scale. The […] Continue reading ->