Category: Pharmaceuticals
Malaysian pharma firm to manufacture Sinovac vaccine by March
Malaysia’s largest integrated pharmaceutical company, Phamaniaga Bhd is manufacturing two million doses/month of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine starting this March. The deal between the two companies is for the supply of 14 million doses of the vaccine to be carried out for fill and finish activity. According to Pharmaniaga’s Managing Director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope, the vaccine […]
Thailand preps for Sinovac Covid-19 shots; FDA warns no documents, no approval
Thailand is underway to receive some 200,000 doses of Chinese-made Sinovac next month, according to news reports; Medical front liners, elderly people, and those in the high-risk groups are said to be prioritized. The country has secured two million doses from Sinovac and will be arriving in batches of 800,000 and 1 million from March […]
EC ok’s US-made Covid-19 vaxx use in Europe; secures 160 mn doses
The European Commission has granted a conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for Covid-19 vaccine Moderna, to be rolled out across the European Union. The authorisation is based upon the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use of the Moderna vaccine for active immunisation to prevent Covid-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus in individuals 18 years of age and older. The European […]
Thailand secures 2 mn Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines; gets first 200K in Feb
Thailand is reportedly getting its first 200,000 Covid-19 vaccines from Sinovac Biotech next month. It is expected to receive the remaining batches of 800,000 vaccines by March, and 1 million vaccines by April. It targets to inoculate at least half of its 70 million population, according to health officials. Thailand has also started local production […]
Pfizer/BioNTech first in WHO list for emergency use COVID-19 vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use, making the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from WHO since the outbreak began a year ago. Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products hails it as “a very positive step towards […]
Portable ultrasound probe offers quick, wireless imaging
US-based medical device company Vave Health Inc. has created a portable ultrasound probe (Vave) that can be carried in a pocket. The imagery can be viewed in real time using an app on a Wi-Fi-linked iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, and footage can be saved both on the mobile device and on an encrypted […]
NZ to roll-out COVID-19 vaccine in mid-2021
New Zealand (NZ) will begin to offer free COVID-19 vaccines to all of the country’s 5 million people by the middle of next year. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that “NZ’s largest immunisation roll-out ever” is thanks to vaccines secured from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer-BioNTech (1.5 million doses, AstraZeneca (7.6 million doses) and Novavax (10.72 million […]
Women taking diabetes drug found to have decreased COVID-19 death risk
Researchers have previously stated that patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and death from the illness. They demonstrate how accumulation of visceral fat around patients’ organs can lead to increased secretion of inflammatory substances such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and D-dimer, which may […]
Emergency use authorisation for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in India
Biopharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. has applied for emergency approval for use of its coronavirus two-shot vaccine from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). However, there has been no response from the DCGI nor the health ministry. As of last week, India has reported more than 9.60 million COVID-19 cases with nearly 140,000 deaths. It […]
UPDATE: Oxford coronavirus vaccine spells good news for older adults
Good preliminary results for the Oxford coronavirus vaccine co-developed with drugmaker AstraZeneca adds to the already promising trial results for three other vaccines – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Russia’s Sputnik. According to research data, the Oxford vaccine shows a strong immune response in adults suggesting that it can protect age groups most at risk from the […]
