Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has suspended its patent rights on the medication tocilizumab in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for the duration of the pandemic, the company announced Tuesday. This follows the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation on Monday for   interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blockers to be given to patients hospitalised with severe or critical […] Continue reading ->
After months with virtually no therapeutic options for people with severe COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of a class of medicines called interleukin-6 antagonists on Tuesday. The medicines, tocilizumab and sarilumab, reduced the risk of death and ventilation when combined with corticosteroids, according to a study published the same day in […] Continue reading ->
Despite a series of controversies, Bharat Biotech, which produces Indian homegrown vaccine Covaxin, hopes for World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listing (EUL) soon, following last week’s publication of its promising Phase 3 results. The vaccine was given emergency authorisation by the Indian government in early January – even before it had concluded a Phase […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – Thousands of Pakistani migrant labourers fear that they might lose their jobs after the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned entry for Pakistanis vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China. Meanwhile, Europe’s digital ‘Green Pass’ is not available to those vaccinated by the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the […] Continue reading ->
Africa could start producing its own cutting-edge COVID-19 vaccines within a year via an mRNA technology transfer hub that is being set up in South Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday. But the speed at which the new hub may be able to swing into full-scale vaccine production depends on whether pharmaceutical […] Continue reading ->
From Indonesia and the Seychelles, to Chile and China itself, there are some worrisome indications that the Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac COVID vaccines sold by the hundreds of millions to vaccine-strapped low- and middle-income countries may not be performing as well as expected – particularly against rapidly spreading variants of SARS-CoV-2.   At the same time, […] Continue reading ->