Tag Archive for: pandemic

The CEO of the world’s biggest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, said the company has bolstered its manufacturing ahead of launches over the next few years of shots against diseases like malaria and dengue by repurposing facilities used to make COVID-19 immunizations.

The company’s planned investment includes 450 million pounds to research, develop and manufacture vaccines at its manufacturing site in Speke, Liverpool, and another 200 million pounds to expand its existing presence in Cambridge, where its global headquarters are located.

The most recent weekly data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed there were over 29,000 hospitalizations from COVID across the U.S. from Dec. 17-23, up more than 16% from the previous week. The CDC also reported over 14,700 flu hospitalizations in that same period.

In a less-than-shocking development, the top drugs of the launch class of 2021 were all for preventing or treating everyone’s least favorite virus.

Moderna expects $6 billion to $8 billion in sales from its COVID shots this year, up from its previous forecast of $5 billion, driven by potential U.S. demand for 50 to 100 million doses in the fall season.

Pfizer will launch a cost-cutting program if demand for its COVID-19 products keeps underperforming expectations this fall, the U.S. drugmaker said on Tuesday, after quarterly sales for the vaccine and pill fell short of Wall Street targets.

The European Commission has contracted pharma companies including Pfizer to reserve capacity to make up to 325 million vaccines per year in case of a future global health emergency.

The initiative is set to wind up at the end of this year, although some of its work will continue. With demand for COVID-19 vaccines dwindling, the partners are now working out how best to use the remaining cash – a significant sum in global health – alongside the donors who originally pledged it.

BioNTech, a German company specializing in mRNA-based vaccines, is facing its first lawsuit in Germany related to alleged side effects of its COVID-19 vaccine, developed in partnership with Pfizer and authorized for emergency use in 158 countries, Reuters reported last week. But in the U.S., vaccine makers are protected from any such liability until October 2024, thanks to a provision the federal government put forth at the start of the pandemic.

Today’s announcement by the World Health Organization is a major step towards the end of the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy and ravaged communities.