💉 Cough cough... cough syrups in the news again; The world grows hungrier still; A universal flu vaccine emerges?
#527 | Welcome to the superspreader Olympics; How to make it in Africa; The heat is truly on
Hello, and welcome back to The Kable for one last time this rainy-where-we-are July.
The mpox situation in Africa continues to worsen. In DRC, already riddled by conflict, the scourge has now spread to displacement camps where children are primarily getting infected. Burundi too has reported its first infections with three cases.
In a continuing saga, the US FDA has censured one more Indian drugmaker. At the receiving end in this edition is CDMO Brassica after its employees told agency inspectors that it was routine practice to fake data. And that is not all. Other violations included failure to test batches for sterility as well as failed sterility tests.
In Taiwan, while dealing with an extended drought, the government is paying farmers to not grow rice so the water can be used for making computer chips instead. Because people are just temporary, AI is forever.
In a little bit of good news, the World Bank's Pandemic Fund has drawn over $700 million in pledges. One-third of the Bank's target replenishment of $2 billion has come as a pledge from the US with Germany pledging another $50 million.
The bird flu situation in the US continues to worsen with three more human farm workers in Colorado testing positive. The state has upped testing and mitigation measures but we suspect authorities are at least one step behind the virus at this stage. Elsewhere, the FAO has asked for an urgent response to what it calls an alarming spread of bird flu in the Asia-Pacific region.
Earlier this week, in a status update on the world's fight against HIV, the WHO said a person died with HIV every minute around the world last year, highlighting the continued urgency of the situation. The good news is that Gilead has what scientists are calling a vaccine against HIV. In recently released test results from a trial in South Africa and Uganda, Gilead's twice-yearly drug Lenacapavir showed a stunning 100% effectiveness in preventing new infections in women. However, Gilead is charging over $40,000 a year for the drug and blocking a generic version that could come in at under $40. Experts, including the MSF, have asked Gilead to make the drug affordable and accessible for all. One can hope.
And finally, the heat. World-record heat. In July 2023, the world had broken the previous hottest day record established in August 2016. Last year, the record was broken four times in four days lasting till July 6. However, that record lasted only a little more than a year with this Sunday blowing past that record with a reading of 17.09°C. And Sunday's record itself lasted one day, with Monday weighing in at 17.16°C. A very slight dip to 17.15°C on Tuesday meant we didn't witness three days in a row of record-breaking heat. Thank Nature for tender mercies.
Stories Of The Week
Made in India. For much of 2022 and 2023, a large part of the drug manufacturing conversation involved cough syrups, especially the ones made in India, and how they led to infant deaths in different parts of the world. In what might seem unrelated news, Indian drug regulators have announced that over 100 cough syrup makers in the country have failed routine quality tests. The Indian government, meanwhile, is reportedly mulling proposals to drop quality tests for cough syrup manufacturing plants that have been approved by regulators from developed markets. Because we all know approved plants never have any quality or control issues.
(The Economic Times, The Economic Times)
An opportunity knocks. This Tuesday was World Brain Day. To commemorate the occasion, the WHO released a report seeking improved access to medicines for neurological conditions, especially in lower-income countries. The report says nearly 50% of the world’s population suffers from some neurological condition, ranging from simple migraines to Alzheimer's. And yet, more than 75% of people needing neurological treatment cannot access care due to a combination of misconceptions about neurological diseases, low diagnostic capacity and limited access to medicines. We're pretty sure Big Pharma will jump into the breach to bridge this gap.
(WHO)
Citius, Altius, Fortius. Multiple centuries of athletic celebrations return to the world stage in the form of the Olympics in Paris. But might it be a Covid super-spreader? Covid? Is it still around? Well, the US says yes with 17 states reporting very high Covid rates in wastewater. In Greece, tourists are being advised to reconsider travel plans because there are no free hospital beds with every household in the country reporting at least one patient. In Portugal, Covid cases - and deaths - are more than double what they were last year during the country's previous Covid wave. In the Netherlands, the new Covid variant has resulted in the country's biggest summer outbreaksince 2021. The new fast-spreading variant is also causing consternation in Japan. And these are just some of the few places around the world where there is some degree of testing still happening.
Coming to the Games themselves, Italy's cycling team has said they won't be staying at the Games village to try and avoid Covid. Some of them are even masking. Gasp! Five Australian water polo players have already tested positive for Covid. Earlier in the week, only one player had tested positive at which time officials were confident it won't spread further. Belgium's Olympic organising committee is stepping up Covid measures after a few delegates tested positive during departure. Volunteers at the Games venues have put out an official statement withdrawing from volunteering duties because of the lack of Covid mitigation measures. The Olympics organising committee meanwhile says they have hand sanitisers. May the best virus win.
Agency Observer
One for the money, two for the bass. CEPI had a relatively quiet week but the couple of announcements it did put out were very welcome. First, it is providing $41.3 million to Valneva to broaden access to Valneva's recently-approved world-first Chikungunya vaccine. Then, CEPI funded a project to use everybody's favourite buzzword - AI - to see how mRNA vaccine development timelines could be shortened. The project is expected to provide a proof of concept in a year.
(CEPI, CEPI)
Breakthroughs
A present from the past. Not that bird flu is likely to become a human pandemic (is it?) but in case it does, a little ray of sunshine. New research led by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has demonstrated a promising approach for developing a universal influenza vaccine, potentially offering lifetime immunity. The cytomegalovirus (CMV)-vectored vaccine induced a strong immune response in Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (MCM) exposed to the avian H5N1 influenza virus by using conserved antigens from the 1918 flu virus. Six of 11 vaccinated primates survived H5N1 exposure, unlike the control group, which succumbed. The study suggests that the CMV vaccine platform, which can induce specific T-cell responses, could be useful against other mutating viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and may lead to a universal flu vaccine within five years.
(Nature Communications)
Bottom line
When hunger strikes. People with ADHD have been known to procrastinate till the last minute and then pull rabbit after rabbit out of their hats to ensure deadlines are met. Seems like the world is imbibing a lesson from that behaviour in its quest to eradicate hunger by 2030. A new UN report says more than 700 million people went hungry last year, a continuing trend over the last three years. Which, using the ADHD analogy, means we're well on track to end world hunger by 2030. Yay.
(UN)
Long reads
Local for the win. Last November, the UK became the first country to approve Casgevy, a CRISPR-based gene therapy for sickle-cell disease, followed by the US, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Sickle-cell disease, which affects over 75% of people in sub-Saharan Africa and India, causes severe pain and is often fatal for children under five. Despite the promise of gene therapies, their exorbitant costs threaten their accessibility, particularly in regions most impacted by the disease. To truly benefit these populations, drug trials must include diverse participants, and manufacturing should be localised in low- and middle-income countries to reduce costs, argues this piece in Nature.
(Nature)
Making it in Africa. Over the last decade, Africa's growing youthful population, vibrant cultural scenes, and wealth of natural resources have attracted global business interest. However, recent exits by major corporations across the continent reveal that many struggle with local conditions, leading to economic challenges and reduced investor confidence. This piece in the WEF blogcontends that Africa's diverse markets and significant informal economies require tailored business strategies rather than importing Western models. With Africa projected to house a quarter of the world’s population by 2050, multinationals must rethink their approaches to foster sustainable growth and unlock the continent's potential.
(WEF)
Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.