💉 AbbVie's Parkinson's purchase; Emergex's Saudi sojourn; Promosome's patent case dismissal
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💉 AbbVie's Parkinson's purchase; Emergex's Saudi sojourn; Promosome's patent case dismissal
#444 | Doing away with seizures; Developing a sixth sense; Drugging your heart through your nose
Hello, and welcome back to The Kable. In Zimbabwe, the Health Ministry has recorded 100 suspected cholera deaths (30 of which have been confirmed) and over 5,000 possible cases since late September. The government has imposed restrictions, like limiting funeral attendance and social gatherings, to curb the spread.
At the inaugural Accra Payer Summit in Ghana, Pfizer and IQVIA partnered with Nigerian and Ghanaian health insurance authorities to improve patient access to healthcare in the West Arican region.
After promising data emerged from its phase 1 trials of betacoronavirus and dengue fever vaccines, the clinical stage biotech Emergex has inked an MoU with Saudi Arabia’s Vaccine Industrial Company (VIC). The partners will advance the former’s T cell-based vaccine candidates against designated infectious diseases and support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to boost the country’s biopharma sector.
Meanwhile, the Saudi FDA has inked an MoU with Portugal’s National Authority of Medicines and Health Products. The two regulatory bodies hope to enhance cooperation and share information and expertise. Among other activities, they will conduct training programmes in evaluating bioequivalence studies, lab tests for biological preparations, and other activities involved in licensing, marketing, and post-marketing control.
After more than 20 years of launching a development project, South Korea is finally in the final stages of getting its own homegrown anthrax vaccine! If approved, production of the shot will likely begin next year.
AbbVie is expanding its presence in the neuroscience space. The company is exercising its exclusive right, purchased in 2021, to acquire the small biotech Mitokinin. For an upfront payment of $110 million, AbbVie will acquire the company’s experimental Parkinson’s treatment which focuses on protecting neurons from mitochondrial dysfunction, a feature common to several brain and nervous system diseases.
The biotech firm Promosome had sued Pfizer and BioNTech for infringing an mRNA-related patent in making their Covid vaccine. Promosome is now dismissing its case and giving up its right to bring future claims over the patent against the Covid vaccine makers. Some weeks ago, Promosome had also abandoned a similar lawsuit filed against Moderna.
Pennsylvania-based KVK Tech found a stray tablet of none other than the infamous Oxycontin on a packaging line meant for beta-blocker Betaxolol tablets. Naturally, the company is recalling the batch in question. While this particular mix-up is unique, KVK has had its fair share of manufacturing issues in the past.
And finally, a sea lion in Brazil was found to be infected with bird flu. This is the first reported case of the infection in marine mammals in the country, though not the first in the region. Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay have already reported such cases. Since there are no reports of the disease in commercial production, Brazil maintains its bird flu-free status.
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The Week That Was
What has been a mostly relentless week in the life sciences began on a cheery note Monday with Johnson & Johnson confirming that it will not enforce patents for Bedaquiline to treat MDR-TB in 134 low- and middle-income countries.
On the same day, the WHO recommended the use of Oxford University’s R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine. The University of Oxford’s R21/Matrix-M vaccine was tested in a phase 3 trial including 4,800 children in four African countries - Mali, Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Tanzania. A preprint of the promising results of this trial was posted last week, with experts predicting WHO endorsement as a foregone conclusion.
Tuesday also saw an update on the Nobel Prize. Biochemist Katalin Karikó and immunologist Drew Weissman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications” - the technology that enabled scientists to develop effective mRNA vaccines against Covid.
In 2021, the Mastercard Foundation and Africa CDC launched the Saving Lives and Livelihoods, or SLL, initiative as a three-year health programme to rapidly deliver Covid vaccines across Africa. On Wednesday, Devex reported that organisations implementing the initiative in Africa received letters in July informing them of a snap audit of all programmes on the continent; funding would be halted until the audit was complete. The Africa CDC says it is still committed to the programmein a joint statement with the Mastercard Foundation.
Yesterday, the big news was dengue, and the threat it presents to Europe, with experts contending that dengue rising in wealthy countries could mean that poorer countries might find it even harder to access lifesaving pharmaceutical interventions. Especially because wealthy nations would likely hoard them, as Covid made amply clear. If priced very high, any new interventions would only be further out of reach of LMICs.
And finally, the cough syrup fiasco in India hasn't drawn to an end just yet. After at least 141 children worldwide died consuming contaminated India-made cough syrups, the country has been cracking down on the pharmaceutical industry. In its latest monthly report, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has flagged ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG) contamination for the first time in at least two years after an inspection of Norris Medicines’ factory.
Newsworthy
Why should South Asia and LatAm have all the fun? The WHO’s chief scientist has said that as the world gets warmer, mosquitoes will make themselves comfortable in more regions worldwide. Consequently, dengue fever is set to take off in southern USA, southern Europe, and new parts of Africa this decade. These regions have already seen some local transmission in recent years. Managing dengue fever requires intensive clinical care, so countries should prepare to build a high ratio of nurses to patients – this is a concern globally, but especially for sub-Saharan Africa. Luckily, Takeda’s dengue vaccine Qdenga has been approved in the EU and recommended by the WHO. Overall, countries will need to manage dengue using a cross-sectoral approach including scientific innovation, urban planning, triaging plans for hospitals, and more.
(Reuters)
Early birds. In 2020, an estimated 13.4 million babies were born early; one million of them died from preterm complications. Poor maternal health and malnutrition are to blame for one in 10 babies being born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. The ones who survive are more susceptible to major illnesses, disabilities, developmental delays, and chronic diseases as adults. A detailed study by authors from the WHO, UNICEF, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, published today in The Lancet, provides comparable country-level estimates for 2020.
Over the last decade, no region of the world has seen a significant drop in rates of preterm babies, with a global reduction rate of just 0.14% between 2010 and 2020. The situation is particularly challenging in sub-Saharan Africa, where about 65% of preterm births in 2020 occurred. Southern Asia, meanwhile, saw over 13% of preterm births. Bangladesh, Malawi, and Pakistan are seeing the worst of it, with rates three to four times higher than countries like Serbia, Moldova, and Kazakhstan, which are least affected. Nonetheless, this isn’t an issue only for LMICs. The USA and Greece also have preterm birth rates of 10% or higher. So across countries, there is a need to up investments in ensuring quality healthcare before, during and after pregnancy – addressing issues of adolescent pregnancy, infections, poor nutrition and pre-eclampsia would be particularly useful.
(The Lancet)
R&D
Guarding against pathogen infection. Researchers at the University of Birmingham claim they have found the switch to control the GBP1 protein, opening up avenues to use it to kill dangerous pathogens. Their findings lead them to believe that blocking the interaction between PIM1 (a key molecule for cancer cell survival) and the protein GPB1 could help eliminate cancer cells. It’s still early days, but this work is the first step in finding new treatments for cancer and antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
(Science)
Sayonara to seizures. In a very promising update from Neurona Therapeutics and UCSF, a cell therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy has seen preclinical success. Researchers have developed a cell therapy alternative to treat the most common type of focal epilepsy. By isolating a specific type of interneuron from human embryonic stem cells and implanting them into the hippocampi of mice with this particular form of epilepsy, they were able to bid goodbye to seizures and prolong the mice’s lives. This treatment provides support to an ongoing first-in-human phase 1/2 clinical trial for this specific drug-resistant epilepsy.
(Cell Stem Cell)
The way to your heart… runs through your nose. Research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reveals that Etripamil, a fast-acting medication delivered as a nasal spray may help address intermittent rapid heartbeats. This will allow patients to treat themselves by snorting the drug whenever symptoms show up. The study also found that the drug did its magic within 30 minutes in most users. This could significantly cut the need for emergency room visits and medical interventions in patients with the heart condition paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.
(Journal of the American Heart Association)
The Kibble
A sixth sense. The tongue can identify sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami tastes. But new research suggests that that’s not all. Apparently, our tongues may be harbouring a special place to detect ammonium chloride as well. Want to test this? You’ll have to source Scandinavian candies. Though we’ve known for long that the tongue responds to this specific taste, the specific tongue reactors involved weren’t identified. Now, the study in question has found that the OTOP1 protein receptor – which is also linked to sour taste – is activated by ammonium chloride. The ability to detect this taste isn’t appendix-like; we may have evolved it to help us avoid harmful substances. Ammonium is found in products like fertilisers after all.
(Nature Communications)
Bottom line
The climate-health nexus. Doctors Without Borders is warning about the effects of climate change on health. Climate change-induced extreme weather events are occurring with greater force and frequency worldwide. The organisation witnesses the impacts of these events on human health around the world, from the Asia Pacific to Europe and North America. Doctors Without Borders is increasingly worried about high levels of vector-, food-, and water-borne diseases which are only projected to increase as the climate crisis progresses.
We can expect to see 15 million more malaria cases annually, with 30,000 deaths. Dengue fever will put one billion more people at risk. Climate change is not only exacerbating infectious diseases like cholera, but also food insecurity, malnutrition, and non-communicable diseases. With forced displacement and migration, conflict and mental health needs are also expected to intensify over time. Doctors Without Borders is calling on the countries most responsible for causing climate change to help the countries that are worst impacted. It calls on them to take responsibility and provide financial and technical support. We are “dangerously off track”, and it is critical for us to take urgent action.
(Doctors Without Borders)
Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.
Every Friday, we relax our paywall so you can see for yourself the value of paying ₹500/month (or ₹4500/year) for a concise download of the day’s top news and events at the intersection of human and animal health, climate change and environmental science. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber.