A COVID-19 vaccine candidate under development by pharma giant Pfizer and biotech firm BioNTech showed promise in interim results released Wednesday. The vaccine candidate, BNT162b1, was able to induce the formation of antibodies that neutralized SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in all participants who received doses between 10ug to 30ug, according to a report […] Continue reading ->
A six-vial five-day course of remdesivir – a promising COVID-19 treatment – will be priced at US $2340, or $390 per vial for developed countries, Gilead Sciences Chief Executive Officer Daniel O’Day wrote in an open letter on Monday. “Earlier hospital discharge [thanks to treatment by remdesivir] would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 […] Continue reading ->
High-level WHO official Emer Cooke has been nominated as the head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the critical regulatory body for European health product approvals. Cooke, an Irish national with 30 years’ experience in international regulatory affairs, is currently the Director of the WHO’s Regulation and Prequalification Department since 2016. In this role, she […] Continue reading ->
The deadliest and longest Ebola outbreak in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has finally ended, the Health Minister Longondo Eteni jubilantly announced on Thursday. The outbreak, concentrated in Ituri and North Kivu provinces in the northeastern DRC, infected 3470 people, and caused 2287 deaths.  The end of the nearly two-year long […] Continue reading ->
Germany has pledged an unprecedented € 500 million to the World Health Organization for 2020, making this the “highest amount” ever provided by the country, said Jens Spahn, German Minister of Health at an impromptu WHO press briefing on Thursday.  The German contribution, equal to about 20% of WHO’s annual budget, plugs the major funding […] Continue reading ->
A standardized set of more than 80 compounds with known or predicted activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been compiled by the Medicines for Malaria Venture in an effort to catalyze the discovery of drugs for the disease. The announcement comes amidst rapid shifts in the research around potential COVID-19 treatments. Just […] Continue reading ->
As COVID-19 puts the world collectively on pause, essential programmes for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are also feeling the cut. NTDs are estimated to impact up to 1.3 billion people around the world, mostly prevalent in poor, marginalized communities with low access to healthcare. “One of the things that’s been severely affected is our neglected […] Continue reading ->
A rising star in the COVID-19 treatment arena, dexamethasone – a powerful corticosteroid – has stirred excitement among World Health Organization experts and researchers around the world, following the publication of promising early results from the United Kingdom’s Recovery trial.  In COVID-19 patients only receiving supplemental oxygen, the trial found that dexamethasone reduced mortality by […] Continue reading ->