💊 GSK acquires Bellus Health and its cough drug; US FDA revises Covid vaccine authorisations; Immunisation programmes take a hit

#322 | The yellow fever threat; Magic mushrooms magical indeed; Checking in on Africa’s Great Green Wall project

Hello there. Welcome back to yet another eventful day with The Kable.

In the US, the FDA has announced changes to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s Covid vaccine authorisations. The agency withdrew its emergency-use authorisation for the older monovalent mRNA vaccines, announced bivalent shots as the new primary Covid vaccine, and authorised a second Omicron-updated booster for older adults. The agency also plans to transition to an annual Covid booster campaign for the circulating strain, similar to the way Americans take flu shots.

After its antibody cocktail Evusheld was declared ineffective against dominant Covid variants by the FDA in January, AstraZeneca is optimistic that its new Covid antibody treatment, AZD3152, can protect immunocompromised individuals against all known variants. Pending regulatory approval, the treatment is likely to become available by the end of the year.

GSK is throwing its hat into the chronic cough treatment ring with its acquisition of Canadian Bellus Health for $2 billion. With this deal, GSK has secured access to the late-stage Camlipixant, the main competitor for Merck’s Gefapixant in the chronic cough market.

Meanwhile, J&J’s Q1 earnings documents reveal expenses worth $130 million as the pharma giant cut its RSV, HIV and hepatitis programmes. While J&J reported overall sales of $24.7 billion, it posted a net loss of $68 million – a consequence of a huge charge linked to a second bankruptcy filing as the company settles over 38,000 lawsuits concerning its talc products.

Initially approved for episodic migraines in adults, AbbVie’s Qulipta now has FDA approval for the prevention of chronic migraines as well.

After announcing promising phase 2 trial data for its pneumococcal vaccine, Vaxcyte is looking to sell its stocks to fund phase 3 and enhance its manufacturing capabilities.

Good news for early-stage digital health startups as Define Ventures has raised $460 million to make some more investments.

GPT-4 is making its way into healthcare as Microsoft, and Epic Systems are using the large language model to analyse medical records in search of trends and draft responses from healthcare workers to their patients.

Danish Genmab and the Netherlands’ argenx are joining hands to discover and develop antibody treatments together.

Over in Malaysia, Samsung is collaborating with KPJ Healthcare to advance precision medicine and diagnostic solutions in the country.

Pyramid Biosciences, meanwhile, has gained exclusive rights (outside greater China) to develop and commercialise Genequantum Healthcare’s preclinical trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2)-targeting ADC in a deal worth up to $1 billion.

In South Africa, Stellenbosch University’s Biomedical Research Institute – the most advanced centre of its kind in the continent – has opened its doors to 500 researchers involved in the investigation of diseases affecting Africans.

In its latest round of layoffs, biotech Nektar Therapeutics is saying goodbye to 60% of its San Francisco workforce.

Medicines targeting inflammatory diseases are all the rage, especially with Merck’s acquisition of Prometheus. Here’s a list of other immunology companies with drug candidates in mid to late-stage testing that might interest you.

And since you can never have too many listicles, here’s a ranking of the top 20 pharma companies based on their 2022 revenues.

The pharmacy of the world still imports 80% of its medical devices. Here’s a look at what 2023 may have in store for the Indian medical device market.

With the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the health system is near collapse; the WHO says that medical supplies and personnel are running very low in the country’s hospitals. And in Kenya, drought is putting the country’s hospitals under extreme stress.

Meanwhile, a report claims that about half of all healthcare facilities in LMICs don’t have reliable access to medical oxygen.

In South Sudan, hepatitis E has claimed five lives from among 91 suspected cases. In Equatorial Guinea, a health worker has contracted the Marburg virus, bringing the country’s total confirmed caseload to 16. The continent is not free even from non-communicable diseases, as the Eastern region of Ghana is witnessing rising hypertension among the younger people.

On the mpox front, South Korea has reported three more cases of community transmission. That’s a total of 16 cases so far.

In Uganda, Gavi is funding the rollout of one million doses of the RTS,S malaria vaccine – the country’s first round of malaria shots.

And finally, the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health May 2023 issue is out. Here’s the latest you need to know about what teenagers around the world are dealing with.