💊 ADCs to grab the limelight at ASCO; Global hunger worsens; Menstrual health review from East Asia and the Pacific

Plastic treaty in the works; Running into headaches; Decaf bad for the ozone layer

Hello and welcome back to The Kable. The life sciences world has finally slowed down a little; must have gone on summer holiday. But lucky you, this means your daily capsule of industry updates is easier to swallow today.

As we mentioned last week, a United Nations committee is meeting this week in Paris, where it’s cloudy with a chance of microplastics. The agenda? Coming up with a treaty to end global plastic pollution. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics hopes to come up with a legally-binding treaty by the end of 2024. Easier said than done. It’s a coalition of countries wanting to restrict plastic production versus a coalition intent on scaling up recycling instead. This is already meeting #2 of 5, so they really need to pick up the pace if they want to make their ambitious deadline.

Shanghai is shattering records and not in a good way. Yesterday, the city witnessed its hottest day in May in over 100 years. What’s worse, temperatures in the region usually only get higher in June, July and August. Meanwhile, some other regions in China have been experiencing torrential rains for weeks, with thousands even being evacuated in northeast Sichuan province as a precaution. Have any friends who are climate change deniers? Just put them on a flight to China already.

Yesterday, we told you about the back-and-forth between chemists’ organisations, e-pharmacies, the central government and the Delhi High Court in India over the legality of online drug sales. The Economic Times reports on the concerns surrounding e-pharmacies and a potential ban on them, with the sector finding itself in regulatory limbo as policy fails to keep up.

Micronutrient deficiencies, especially of folate, iron, vitamin A, and zinc, affect half of all preschool-aged children and two-thirds of all women of reproductive age globally. At the ongoing World Health Assembly, delegates adopted a resolution on accelerating efforts to prevent micronutrient deficiencies through safe and effective food fortification.

Once bitten, twice still susceptible. Two individuals in Spain have been reinfected with mpox, which was earlier believed to confer immunity for life. There are only 6 such known cases globally.

And finally, Japan’s Omron is set to open its first medical device factory in India in the state of Tamil Nadu. The company will invest Rs 1.3 billion (~ $15.7 million) to set up the plant which will make blood pressure monitors and other devices. Omron is the latest global manufacturer to enter or scale up production in the state.