Day: 24 June 2021

Pete Arduini appointed president and Chief Executive Officer of GE healthcare

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US – GE has announced appointment of Pete Arduini as president and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare effective January 3, 2022. Arduini will succeed Kieran Murphy who will continue to serve in his current role until the end of 2021 after which he will serve as a strategic advisor to GE before retiring from the Company. Arduini joins GE from Integra LifeScience where he has served as president and CEO since January 2012. Under his leadership, the Integra LifeSciences portfolio has evolved significantly to a faster growing and more…

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Dr. Reddy’s launches icosapent ethyl capsules into the U.S market

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US – Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, a leading multinational pharmaceutical company based in India and overseas, has launched its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved 1-gram Icosapent ethyl capsules. The drug was approved as a diet supplementary to reduce triglyceride (TG) levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia, a condition associated with high amounts of fatty molecules(triglyceride) in the blood and can result to a patient having skin lesions. Icosapent ethyl capsule approval and launch was timely at a time when hypertriglyceridemia and its related complications are becoming a…

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Sanofi’s and translate bio’s mRNA influenza vaccine now in its first phase clinical trials

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US – Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine global unit of Sanofi and Translate bio, is initiating the first phase clinical trials of its mRNA influenza vaccine. This is a move that proceeds positive preclinical safety and immunogenicity data of the mRNA vaccines which will assess the safety and immunogenicity (immune response) of the monovalent (single-strain) vaccine candidate in up to 280 participants.  The development of this vaccine has been ongoing since a joint venture collaboration between Translate Bio and Sanofi Pasteur that involved an exclusive license agreement that has been ongoing…

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Health experts to review heart related complications among teens post their COVID jab

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WORLD – A panel of health experts convened by the US health agency will meet to review data surrounding more than 300 confirmed cases of heart inflammation among adolescents and young adults after receiving mRNA COVID vaccines. The committee, hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will hear a risk-benefit analysis as researchers probe the shots’ probable links to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. This emergency review comes after 11, 323 people under the age of 29 who received mRNA COVID vaccines presented to have…

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Lilly’s donanemab receives U.S. FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy designation for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

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USA – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for donanemab, Eli Lilly and Company’s investigational antibody therapy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The Breakthrough Therapy designation aims to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat a serious condition when preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement on a clinically significant endpoint(s) over already available therapies that have received full FDA approval. The FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation is based on clinical evidence for donanemab, an investigational antibody…

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Cadila, Bayer joint venture partnership gets a three-year extension

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INDIA – Zydus Cadila, a leading Indian Pharmaceutical company and Bayer (South East Asia), a subsidiary in Singapore that deals in distribution of prescription drugs, have decided to extend their joint venture by three years with effect from June. The two companies first entered into the joint venture agreement ten years ago with a joint name Bayer Zydus Pharma and operated mainly from Mumbai with a business model revolving around the sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products in India and across the world. During the previous joint venture, Bayer’s global…

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Zimbabwean entities get SADC funding to produce protective equipment

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ZIMBABWE – Two local institutions in Zimbabwe have received funding from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to manufacture COVID-19 protective equipment for the benefit of the wider regional market. The Covid-19 situation was topical at the Extraordinary SADC Council of Ministers Meeting in Maputo, Mozambique on Tuesday, where it emerged that several countries in the bloc were recording a surge in new infections. The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira, presented Zimbabwe at the conference, which preceded yesterday’s Extra-Ordinary SADC Heads of States and…

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Vien Health unveils in Ghana to digitally ease doctor-patient access

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GHANA – Vien Health, a virtual healthcare solutions provider that describes itself as Africa’s leading virtual healthcare platform, has launched in Ghana to help easy access between patients and doctors digitally. Vien health was founded on the belief that everyone should have access to quality healthcare. The company has built a comprehensive solution that makes it easier for patients, organizations and doctors across Africa to connect anytime, anywhere and on any device. There are several challenges that countries in Africa are facing in the healthcare sector such as lack of…

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Ban on MSF operations in Cameroon continues to obstruct healthcare delivery

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CAMEROON – While thousands of people struggle to access vital healthcare in the restive North-West region of Cameroon, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is still denied the resumption of its healthcare care services in the region, six months after the forced suspension of its activities by Cameroonian authorities. MSF is calling on the government of Cameroon to immediately lift this suspension and prioritise the medical needs of the population. In 2018, in agreement with Cameroon’s Ministry of Health, MSF launched an emergency response to the critical health situation in…

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Stringent lockdown measures likely in South Africa as COVID-19 cases surge

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SOUTH AFRICA – President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to meet with the National Coronavirus Command Council to discuss the government’s response to the third Covid-19 wave of infections and the possibility of introducing new restrictions. A move to a stringent lockdown has been recommended by several quarters, including the South African Medical Association, the Gauteng Provincial Government, medical professionals, and now the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19. Ramaphosa said earlier this week that indications are that government will have to increase the measures that it puts in place to prevent…

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