Public-Private Partnership Builds Africa’s First Multi-Vaccine Production Plant
European investors have announced their partnership with South African biopharmaceutical company The Biovac Institute in building Africa’s first end-to-end multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in South Africa. Biovac projects to annually produce tens of millions of doses of vaccines for cholera, polio, and pneumonia. The plant will be the continent’s first end-to-end vaccine manufacturing plant, and the […]
Poland, Romania Resist Brussels Court Order to Pay $2.2 Billion to Pfizer
A court in Belgium has ordered Poland and Romania to proceed with paying €1.9 billion ($2.2 billion) for purchasing mRNA COVID-19 shots from Pfizer, Inc. and BioNTech SE in a case brought by Pfizer three years ago. The lawsuit and court judgement has intensified a broader legal dispute over mRNA COVID shot contracts signed by […]
Depo-Provera Birth Control Injection Linked to 53 Percent Greater Brain Tumor Risk
A substantial body of research has linked a popular birth control injection—medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), marketed under the brand name Depo-Provera®—to meningiomas, the most common type of brain tumor. While meningiomas are typically classified as benign, untreated tumors or atypical and malignant cases can still grow aggressively and lead to life-threatening complications such as increased intracranial […]
FDA Bans Red No. 3 Used in Many Processed Foods
The artificial coloring known as Red Dye No. 3 has been banned in cosmetics in the U.S. for 35 years, but it has been allowed to stay in food and medicine. The synthetic dye that gives foods a cherry red color is an ingredient in more than 9,200 products on store shelves in the country. […]
Immno-Castrator Vaccine to Sterilize Dogs Released in Chile
Chile has introduced a new vaccine that temporarily sterilizes dogs for one year. The vaccine, known as Egalitte, is expected to be sold in several countries, and was developed to provide dog owners an alternative to irreversible surgical castration.1 It was initially intended to address Chile’s growing population of stray dogs.2 “This is the first […]
Finland Offers Bird Flu Vaccine to Farm Workers
Public health officials in Finland are preparing to offer H5N1 influenza (also known as avian influenza or bird flu) vaccines to people at who they believe are at risk of exposure to an avian influenza strain spreading among farmed and wild animals. Finland is the first country to administer avian influenza vaccines to certain populations […]