The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appears unprepared to assume full responsibility for the nation’s Covid-19 vaccine program, including activities currently managed by the Pentagon, according to a draft government watchdog report reviewed by Reuters.
As Covid-19 infections driven by the Delta variant continue to spike across much of the United States, stretching health care services to the limits, the White House is seeking $65 billion to lay the groundwork for future pandemic preparedness.
In a survey released by oncology data leader COTA, half of the respondents pointed to “Operation Warp Speed” for the Covid-19 pandemic as the seed of their belief that cancer treatments can and should be moving forward faster.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals said on April 23 the U.S. government had stopped funding for a late-stage study testing the company’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, due to the increasing availability of authorized shots in the country.
Face2Face America, a nationwide, community-driven Covid-19 vaccine education initiative, launched a call to action to engage other members of the healthcare communications industry to lend support to their initiative to fight vaccine hesitancy.
Moncef Slaoui, who served as chief scientist for the Operation Warp Speed response to the Covid-19 pandemic under former President Donald Trump, was fired as chairman of the board of directors of Galvani Bioelectronics following the “substantiation” of allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct.
Centessa, based in Cambridge, Mass. and London, launched as a “novel asset-centric pharmaceutical company.”
Perhaps the synergy of federal spending and pharma/biotech ingenuity we witnessed during Operation Warp Speed should continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to address other medical crises. Turning the race for a vaccine into something like the 1889 Oklahoma land rush was a masterstroke.
Merck is stopping development of the company’s two Covid-19 vaccine candidates, dubbed V590 and V591, after poor responses in Phase I trials.
Moncef Slaoui, the GlaxoSmithKline vaccines veteran who has helmed the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed Covid-19 vaccine program, is stepping down from the role ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.