The wider use of pooled procurement in national health systems can help low- and middle-income countries get a better deal on pharmaceuticals – here’s how and why. Low- and middle-income countries are making strides in bolstering their domestic pharmaceutical sectors—evidenced by the recent deal between South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics and Belgium’s Univercells, to develop the […] Continue reading ->
Pfizer and BioNTech have announced positive safety, tolerability and immunogenicity data for two Omicron-adapted COVID-19 mRNA candidate vaccines – but for an earlier strain of Omicron than those that are currently globally dominant.  The two Omicron-adapted vaccine candidates were given to 1,234 participants aged 56 years and older as boosters, and “elicited substantially higher neutralizing […] Continue reading ->
A World Health Organization emergency committee met Thursday to determine if the monkeypox outbreak spreading in non-endemic countries constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The closed door meeting, including 16 committee members and eight advisors, will make a recommendation to WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who will decide whether to designate […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has once more raised the red flag over the lack of new antibacterial treatments being developed to address the mounting threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In its annual  ‘pipeline report’, which assesses those antibacterial drugs in preclinical and clinical development, WHO describes the pipeline as “stagnant” and “far from meeting […] Continue reading ->
A new $100 million initiative to identify and reach zero-dose children – those who have not received a single routine vaccine shot – has been launched today by Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and World Vision (WV).  The Zero-Dose Immunization Programme (ZIP) will be led by the International […] Continue reading ->
One year since the establishment of the mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub, a collaboration between two leading biotech companies – Afrigen Biologics and the Univercells group – was announced on Tuesday, paving the way for the development of the first-ever African-owned COVID-19 vaccine through open-access intellectual property.  Using intellectual property from partners, the collaboration between […] Continue reading ->
A new app for mobile phones that provides localized information on ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels has been created by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization, and the International Labour Organization (ILO).  The app is available free of charge on both the Apple App and Google Play […] Continue reading ->