Global funding to develop new drugs for some of the world’s leading infectious disease killers, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria, was US $3.876 billion, with the drop of US $185 million from 2018 reflecting COVID-related difficulties in data collection, according to the G-Finder Report, which tracks annual global investments. However, once participation is accounted […] Continue reading ->
A growing consensus seems to be emerging out of this week’s high-level WTO meeting that glaring inequities in access to vaccines can be remedied by strengthening supply chains, avoiding export bans across borders, and ensuring that big pharma voluntarily transfers its vaccine technologies to poorer countries so they can produce their own vaccines.  “The significant […] Continue reading ->
Patents are not the main roadblock to producing enough coronavirus vaccines for the world – rather the challenge is technology transfer with manufacturers, said a top official at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on Wednesday.  His comments joined those of pharma voices in what seems to be a growing counter-trend to that of […] Continue reading ->
India has greenlighted Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use following a severe shortage of vaccines against the coronavirus and a massive spike in cases, and is now poised to become one of the world’s largest manufacturing hubs for the vaccine with 50 million doses produced by July.  India’s aproval of a third COVID vaccine […] Continue reading ->
Previous infection with SARS-CoV2 induces effective immunity against future infections by 84% – but reinfection rate is still 16%, found a study published in The Lancet on Friday. This suggests that infection-induced immunity is similar to, or greater than, vaccine-associated immunity, said the authors.  The SARS-CoV2 Immunity and Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN) study involved 25,661 health […] Continue reading ->
The WHO and its member states must take swift action to enable a transparent, independent and rigorous investigation into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, said two dozen international scientists in their second open letter.  The letter – released on Wednesday by 24 scientists and researchers across Europe, the United States, and Japan – comes […] Continue reading ->