As COVID-19 deaths across the globe top 3 million, with more than 1 million in Europe alone, the global demand is increasing for mRNA vaccines, even as sponsors of adenovirus vaccines push back against ongoing safety concerns. Last week, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe reported that the confirmed COVID-19 death toll for the region had surpassed 1 million, with 1.6 million new cases being reported every week. More than 171 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the region, translating to nearly 13% of the European population receiving one dose and close to 6% completing both doses of the vaccines.

As COVID-19 deaths across the globe top 3 million, with more than 1 million in Europe alone, the global demand is increasing for mRNA vaccines, even as sponsors of adenovirus vaccines push back against ongoing safety concerns. Last week, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe reported that the confirmed COVID-19 death toll for the region had surpassed 1 million, with 1.6 million new cases being reported every week. More than 171 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the region, translating to nearly 13% of the European population receiving one dose and close to 6% completing both doses of the vaccines.

Governments across the globe are struggling to keep pace with the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s impact on public health, but the new variants are presenting their own challenges. The next task facing governments across the globe is to sequence the latest mutated variants of the virus and keep track of any further mutations, all while validating new and revamped existing tests, a task that is likely to prove difficult to meet for at least the next few months.

Citing a lack of evidence that it improves survival, the need for ventilation or time to clinical improvement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised doctors against using Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral Veklury (remdesivir) to treat COVID-19.

The large-scale failure of a handful of drugs repurposed for COVID-19 hasn’t slowed efforts to find existing – and new – therapies as well as vaccines that can fight the pandemic, with research updates continuing to roll out.

The large-scale failure of a handful of drugs repurposed for COVID-19 hasn’t slowed efforts to find existing – and new – therapies as well as vaccines that can fight the pandemic, with research updates continuing to roll out.

The Xpert MTB/XDR test developed by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and Cepheid Inc. quickly indicates whether a patient has a dangerous – and rapidly increasing – strain of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (TB). The new test enables clinicians to return results in 90 minutes and see immediately whether the pathogen would respond to standard first- or second-line therapies.

LONDON – Two months after the launch, the World Health Organization (WHO) has laid out the spending plans for its push to accelerate development and production of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.