Author: Biotech Express

Dr Harald Walachwho co-authored a now-retracted paper claiming that two vaccinated people died of COVID-19 for every three deaths prevented has had an affiliation with a Polish university terminated. The retracted manuscript “The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations – We Should Rethink the Policy” (Vaccines, Publisher MDPI) is based on the wrong assumptions. A number of experts had serious concerns about the use of Lareb data. Moreover, data extracted by the authors from the observational study by Dagan et al. concern short-term mortality after the first dose, which is not at all representative of mortality prevention in the long term after…

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday (July 4, 2021) granted a licence to Panacea Biotec for manufacturing the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in India. Sputnik V has been registered in 54 countries globally with a total population of over 1.4 billion people. The efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6 percent as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet. The pharma company tied up with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce the COVID-19 vaccine in the country. The Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, has been part of India’s fight against COVID-19 since 14 May. Batches of…

While several countries are relying on Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine to end the pandemic once and for all, concerns regarding the shot’s efficacy continue to shroud the vaccine, which is currently the second most used COVID-19 vaccine product across the globe. WHO approves Sinovac coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on May 31st 2021. Although the Beijing-based biotech’s vaccine has demonstrated success in clinical trials, efficacy rates have ranged from 50% to as high as 90% across clinical trials conducted in Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia. Sinovac has since kept mum on these data and hasn’t provided explanations or…

At a virtual event, the Minister launched CTRI portal pertinent to Ayurveda Dataset along with AMAR, RMIS, SAHI and e-Medha portals. He also released four publications related to the Traditional Indian Medicine System of India and lauded the collaborative efforts of ICMR and Archaeological Survey of India for these initiatives. At a virtual event, the Minister launched CTRI portal pertinent to Ayurveda Dataset along with AMAR, RMIS, SAHI and e-Medha portals. Ayurveda Dataset on Clinical Trial Registry of India- CTRI is a primary Register of Clinical Trials under the world health Organization’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. Creation of Ayurveda…

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company is acquiring Pasadena, Calif.-based Protomer Technologies in a deal that may exceed $1 billion. No specific financial details were disclosed other than to say the $1 billion figure was linked to various development and commercial milestones. Protomer has a drug technology platform made up of proteins that can sense concentrations of specific molecules and adjust to create variable doses. This pipeline includes an insulin product that adjusts to different glucose levels in diabetic patients. The company was founded in 2014 by Caltech researchers led by Alborz Mahdavi. In November 2020, Lilly led an investment round…

Zydus Cadila today announced that the company has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the office of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D – its Plasmid DNA vaccine against COVID-19. Zydus Cadila said the world’s first Plasmid DNA vaccine for COVID-19 demonstrated safety and efficacy in the interim data of the largest vaccine trial so far in India for COVID-19. “The primary efficacy of the three doses vaccine was at 66.6 percent for symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases in the interim analysis,” the company said. “Whereas no moderate case of COVID-19 disease was observed in the vaccine arm post…

Covishield is now eligible for travel to Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland and Spain. Iceland and Switzerland too have made the jab eligible for travel to the countries, sources said. The exclusion of Covishield, which is produced by India’s Serum Institute using methods analogous to the EU-approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Vaxzevria but does not have EU market authorisation, stoked anger and the threat of retaliatory measures by India against travellers from Europe. The pass will help do away with the need for quarantines or further testing for travellers between the EU’s 27 countries and four associated European nations – Iceland, Norway,…

Clarivate, the company behind the Impact Factor, a closely watched — and controversial — metric, is calling out more than 20 journals for unusual citation patterns. The 21 journals — 10 of which were suppressed, meaning they will not receive an Impact Factor in 2020, and 11 of which received an expression of concern — are fewer than half of the nearly 50 that the company suppressed or subjected to an expression of concern last year from its Journal Citation Report (JCR). The suppressions, the company notes, represent .05% of the journals listed — a total that increased dramatically this…

From acupuncture to herbal tea, Chinese medicine has long been an integral part of Hong Kong society. The city’s background of East meets West gives it a unique edge in raising the discipline to a higher level, as shown in the use of traditional treatment methods for Covid-19 patients. The industry and the wider community stand to benefit from efforts to further institutionalise the practice. The government’s launch of the first Chinese medicine hospital project is an important milestone. With a capacity of 400 beds and an annual 310,000 outpatient services, the HK$8.62 billion (US$1.1 billion) facility being built in…

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), on Tuesday, granted permission to Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firm Cipla to import Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Details of a rollout plan are not out yet. It is not clear how many doses will be available in India and when. Sources say for now, Cipla is only looking at receiving donated vaccines; commercial agreements are still being processed. “Cipla Limited is supporting Moderna Inc with the regulatory approval and importation of vaccines to be donated to India. At this stage, there is no definitive agreement on commercial supplies,” Cipla said in a statement. Both Pfizer and…