💉 Afrigen signs up with Merck; India's cities leave you in the murk; To mitigate migraine, researchers work
#524 | Dengue can make you depressed; Bird flu is not yet suppressed; Indian spice manufacturers distressed
Hello, and welcome back to The Kable for what is a fairly light edition this week.
To kick things off, news from Sierra Leone where the government has finally outlawed child marriage.
In what seems like a rehash but is actually fresh news, Sun Pharma was reprimanded by the US FDA for lapses at one of its manufacturing units in India. Sun Pharma also joined Dr. Reddy's in recalling drugs in the US market.
CEPI is funding human trials for a new antibody that promises protection from the Nipah virus. The trials are expected to begin next year in India and Bangladesh.Â
Elsewhere, one more reason to protect yourself from dengue. A newly published study in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases says dengue can lead to depressive conditions.
In the UK, Covid is surging and masks are back in fashionrecommendation even as epidemiologists ask people with Covid to stay at home. Not to be left behind, the US too is reporting - well, okay not reporting but experiencing - a surge in Covid cases with cases already reaching last year's peak.
And finally, all those spice powder mixes made in India that caused concern and consternation across the globe? Indian food regulators have cancelled manufacturing licenses of over 100 producers with warnings that more cancellations might be on their way.
Stories Of The Week
Make in Africa. In the second successive week of good news on the manufacturing front in Africa, Germany's Merck has tied up with Afrigen Biologics to advance the development of an mRNA vaccine technology platform. Afrigen, you may recall, is hosting the WHO's Africa mRNA tech transfer hub. This new partnership forms part of that larger program and will see Merck contributing to the centre of excellence and training initiatives of Afrigen. The Afrigen-hosted program aims to provide a comprehensive transfer of knowledge, enabling the existing 15 recipient manufacturers of the hub to manufacture and provide mRNA vaccines at scale.
(Merck)
Why make in Africa? If that is a question you've found yourself wondering, the WEF has the answer for you. And the answer encompasses not just the why but also the how. If there's only one article you read this weekend, make it this one.Â
(WEF)
Flying on. And we're back with the flavour of the season. Bird flu it is. We're not saying that bird flu is likely to be a pandemic soon but the US government is giving Moderna $176 million to fund development of an mRNA vaccine. To juxtapose, the US is giving Emergent Bio $250 million to boost countermeasures against anthrax, smallpox and symptomatic botulism. Again, we're not saying bird flu could become a pandemic soon but scientists are wondering whether that might be the case. With some reason, we say, because a fourth US farm worker - a human - has tested positive for bird flu. In Australia, bird flu has affected so many poultry farms, leading to so many cullings, that McDonalds has had to cut down on breakfast timings. And in Germany, WOAH has reported a bird flu outbreak of the H7N5 strain, which has never before been reported in recorded history. Food inspectors in the US have a plan though. What is the plan, you ask? Well, they plan to inspect dairy products across retail outlets in the US for bird flu.Â
(Medcity News, Emergent, Reuters, CNN, Reuters, Reuters, Telegraph)
Breakthroughs
One plus one is two. A pair of studies from Science promise good news on medicine manufacturing processes and the end of migraines, respectively. In the first study, chemists successfully synthesised a more stable form of heterocycle, azetidines, which are crucial for developing safer pharmaceuticals. This breakthrough can potentially reduce side effects in medications by providing more stable compounds. The second study involved a newly discovered communication pathway between the brain and the body that could provide a new target for stopping migraine pain. This pathway involves cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) carrying signalling molecules directly to the trigeminal ganglion, a key nerve hub, which bypasses the slower route through the meninges. This discovery may help explain the link between migraine aura and headache and could lead to new drug targets for those not responding well to current therapies.
(Science, Science)
Bottom line
How clean is your air? Not as clean as you think. A first-of-its-kind multi-city study from India doesn't bode well for India's cities. It says even a slight rise in air pollution in typically "cleaner" cities could spike death rates more than in perpetually polluted Delhi. This unsettling finding exposes how short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) wreaks havoc on health, with nearly 30,000 deaths attributed annually across ten major cities. What this study starkly underscores is that no level of exposure is safe and that there is an urgent and immediate need for comprehensive pollution control strategies.
(Lancet Planet Health)
Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.