In their latest submission to Science, Weifeng Shi, director and professor at the Institute of Pathogen Biology at Shandong First Medical University in China, and George Gao, head of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, have warned that “the global spread of H5N8 avian influenza viruses is a public health concern.”
In their latest submission to Science, Weifeng Shi, director and professor at the Institute of Pathogen Biology at Shandong First Medical University in China, and George Gao, head of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, have warned that “the global spread of H5N8 avian influenza viruses is a public health concern.”
Novavax Inc. backed off its guidance of submitting an EUA for its COVID-19 vaccine in June, pushing the anticipated date to this fall. “We expect to complete regulatory filings in the third quarter,” Stan Erck, Novavax’s president and CEO, told investors on a May 10 conference call. “We hope to have market authorizations in multiple countries in the third quarter, as early in the quarter as possible.”
Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to pay up to $780 million in up-front, milestone payments and R&D funding for exclusive rights to antiviral conjugates to be developed by Cidara Therapeutics Inc. for the prevention and treatment of seasonal and pandemic influenza.
PERTH, Australia – Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released three final guidances on its expectations on clinical performance requirements and risk mitigation for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) self-tests. The guidances outline clinical performance requirements and key risks that must be mitigated for IVDs to be used as self-tests for seasonal influenza; hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV); and chlamydia, gonorrhea; and syphilis.
Vaccines now in clinical trials can raise broad-spectrum antibodies against more than one form of hemagglutinin and provide protection against the flu strains that have been most troublesome from a public health perspective.
What’s the plan? The U.S. CDC is being asked that question a lot these days – not just about COVID-19, but also about preparing for what could be a tough influenza season as flu bugs circulate with the coronavirus.
The idea of being able to produce vaccines at the point of care with the push of a button may sound futuristic, but Codex DNA Inc. claims it will have the first fully automated, tabletop vaccine printer ready for the market in 18-24 months. Will this be a game-changer in rolling out a COVID-19 vaccine? Probably not. But the technology could better position health officials to respond to the next pandemic, or eventually to produce a better, faster influenza vaccine each year.
With COVID-19, questions about how infections cause lasting immunity, or don’t, and how you know and what it all means for vaccines have become a matter of public focus. But some immunologists have been pondering those questions for years. “The immune system has a very good memory,” Bali Pulendran told BioWorld. “Clearly, some viruses and some pathogens can enter the body and stimulate the immune system, and the immune system can remember that encounter for decades.”
HONG KONG – Osaka, Japan-based Shionogi & Co Ltd. continues to make global inroads with its influenza treatment, Xofluza (baloxavir marboxil), submitting supplemental new drug applications in Japan and Taiwan for a post-exposure prophylaxis indication on the back of positive results from its phase III trials.
