Day: 26 July 2021

Veera Health receives US$3m as it sets to scale up its business operations

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INDIA – Veera Health, a digital health platform for women, has raised US$3 million in a funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and Global Founders Capital, along with the participation of Y Combinator, CloudNine Hospitals’ co-founder Rohit M.A. and Tinder India head Taru Kapoor. The funding will be used to scale the business and grow teams across engineering, product and operations. Veera is part of the fifth cohort of Surge, which is Sequoia Capital India’s scale-up programme for startups in India and Southeast Asia.  The company was founded…

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Booster COVID jab may be crucial with new COVID-19 variants emerging

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INDIA – With the pandemic still far from over and mutations of the virus still expected to emerge in the near future, a need for a booster dose of the second generation COVID-19 vaccination might be adopted. The chief of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Dr Randeep Guleria has called for the need of India to adopt a second-generation booster jab as he believes that the human immunity tends to fall as time progresses. The second- generation vaccines were developed to protect the population from the new emerging…

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Aspen Pharmacare delivers first batch of J&J COVID-19 vaccine

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare will supply the first batch of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to the country as from today, the drug maker has announced. These will be the first set of vaccines to be manufactured in the country from active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), substances used to make the final drug product, sourced from Europe. “Supply for Africa and South Africa is particularly rewarding, given the current global inequality in accessing vaccines,” Stephen Saad, chief executive of Aspen said in a statement. “This represents a big…

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Uganda set to immunize children under 15 with Pfizer’s Covid vaccine

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UGANDA – Uganda will start vaccinating children under 15 years of age against COVID-19 once the country receives supplies of the Pfizer vaccine, a senior government official has said. “Uganda is hoping to get doses of Pfizer vaccine and when we get them, we will vaccinate children. There are a few doses, so we shall only vaccinate those children who are at risk of severe disease,” said Musenero, the minister for science and technology. She said children with diabetes, high blood pressure, sickle cell anemia, or any other disease which…

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Healthcare sector quadruple aim goals boosts medical imaging & informatics market

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WORLD – Based on a recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan, Global Medical Imaging & Informatics Outlook, 2021, the market opportunity is estimated to hit US$37.10 billion in 2021 from US$33.90 billion in 2020, registering growth at 9.4% under an aspirational scenario. This is a trend attributed to the healthcare sector’s emphasis on meeting its Quadruple Aim goal of cost reduction, clinical outcomes, enhance the patient and caregiver experience, and improve the work-life of healthcare providers. With the onset of the pandemic, a focus on efficiency and productivity will attain…

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World Bank approves US$100 million toward improving healthcare services in Somalia

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SOMALIA – The World Bank, has approved its first investment in Somalia’s health sector in 30 years, which is financed by a US$75 million International Development Assistance (IDA) grant and an additional US$25 million grant from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF). The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. Since inception, IDA has supported development…

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Good news for dog enthusiasts as USFDA grants Tanovea full approval as cancer therapy

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US – The U.S Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) have granted Tanovea (rabacfosadine injection) full approval as therapy against lymphoma in dogs. Tanovea will become the first ever conditionally approved new animal drug for the friendly canines to achieve the FDA’s full approval. It was approved using the new animal drug approval process after initially receiving conditional approval under statutory provisions related to drugs intended for uncommon diseases or conditions in major animal species (minor uses) or for use in the minor species of animals under the FDA’s Minor Use…

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Tanzania receives first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines since onset of the pandemic

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TANZANIA – Tanzania has welcomed a delivery of one million Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 shots as part of a USA government donation after the African nation’s late president had long resisted accepting any doses. The donation is part of the Biden administration’s commitment first announced last month to donate 25 million coronavirus shots abroad, partially through the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX initiative. “We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic,” Donald Wright, the U.S. ambassador to Tanzania…

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Brian McNamara takes over as GSK’s CEO Designate for newly independent consumer healthcare company

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UK – Brian McNamara, the CEO of GSK Consumer Healthcare (a Joint Venture between GSK and Pfizer) has been appointed as CEO Designate of the new, listed Consumer Healthcare company which will result from the proposed demerger of Consumer Healthcare from GSK in 2022. As set out at GSK’s Investor Update on 23 June 2021, subject to approval from shareholders, the separation of Consumer Healthcare will be by way of a demerger in mid-2022 of at least 80% of GSK’s holding to shareholders. The company will have a strong portfolio…

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UNICEF inks deal with Janssen Pharmaceutica to supply Covid-19 vaccine to AU

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AFRICA – UNICEF has signed an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica to supply up to 220 million doses of the J&J single-dose vaccine for all 55 Member States of the African Union (AU) by the end of 2022. The agreement between UNICEF and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV will help implement the Advance Purchase Commitment (APC) signed between the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and Janssen in March of this year. This agreement secured an option to order another 180 million doses, bringing the maximum access up to a total of 400 million doses by the end of…

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