Africans are a step closer to speedier access to newer, safer medicines following this week’s notification by 15 African Union (AU) member countries that they have formally ratified and deposited their accord to create a new African Medicines Agency (AMA). Although the AU adopted the treaty to set up the AMA back in February 2019, […] Continue reading ->
Indian generic drug manufacturers are poised to make the antiviral pill, molnupiravir, which halved hospitalisations in a trial of high-risk people with COVID-19. Merck, which developed molnupiravir in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, has awarded non-exclusive, voluntary licensing agreements to eight generic companies in India since April in anticipation of positive trial results. According to Merck, […] Continue reading ->
Following news that Sanofi, a French pharma company, will abandon its promising mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called for the corporation to transfer the vaccine technology and know-how to the WHO-led COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa. Despite the existence of two approved mRNA vaccines and 13 candidates in advanced stages […] Continue reading ->
New statistics from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance show that routine immunisation programmes have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the latest data shows that there is extraordinary resilience in immunisation systems, with governments’ efforts to keep childhood vaccinations going despite the impact of the pandemic paying dividends. In the face of the pandemic, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization published the latest edition of its Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML) on Friday, making a sweeping move this time to include long-lasting insulin analogues as essential drugs that national health systems should incorporate into their services.  The decision reverses the EML Expert Committee’s 2019 decision, rejecting the inclusion of insulin […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN – Following new travel policies that discriminate against vaccinated travellers from African countries, as compared to their European, Asian and Middle Eastern counterparts, African health officials have demanded clarifications, and accused the UK government of potentially festering vaccine hesitancy on the continent. A British government’ plan to drop a 10-day quarantine requirement for fully-vaccinated […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A drug discovery and development centre based at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has joined forces with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) to strengthen health innovation in Africa. The three-year partnership announced this week will focus on driving capacity-strengthening for drug discovery and development in Africa by […] Continue reading ->
US President Joe Biden has reaped praise for convening a Global COVID-19 Summit on the margins of this year’s United Nations General Assembly that placed vaccine shortfalls in low- and middle-income countries front and center of GA debates. But it remains to be seen if the big commitments repeated once more this week can break […] Continue reading ->
In the coming months, 600 million doses of single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines, manufactured in Hyderabad, are likely to be exported to Europe or the United States, at a time when India grapples with vaccinating its own citizens. Civil-society organisations are concerned that millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine may end up in the […] Continue reading ->