Indian health regulators are reportedly set to approve Russia's Sputnik V vaccine as the country sees an increase in cases. Indian regulators approved the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and one from Bharat Biotech.
A shortage of coronavirus vaccines, largely driven by India's decision to halt vaccine exports, could delay vaccination campaigns in as many as 60 countries, data from UNICEF shows. The delays have prompted some countries to question the ability of the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative to deliver the vaccines it has promised.
Sanofi has acquired Tidal Therapeutics in a deal worth $470 million, with Tidal eligible to receive $160 million as an upfront payment and an additional $310 million for a variety of milestone payments. Tidal is developing nanoparticles to deliver messenger RNA to immune cells for reprogramming against immune diseases and cancer.
Construction is underway on a pilot plant in Finland that will use industrial biotechnology techniques to convert soy molasses into lactic acid using a biotech yeast strain. The product can then be polymerized to become polylactic acid, which can be used for packaging, 3D printing filaments, and medical implants.
Australia, Belgium, the Philippines, the UK and other nations have limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after the European Medicines Agency announced that there may be a link between rare blood clots and the vaccine. The EU regulator said a rare combination of the blood clots and low platelet counts should be considered a possible side effect of the vaccine, though it said the vaccine's benefits outweigh its risks.
GlaxoSmithKline's ViiV Healthcare hosted its second live Facebook cabaret, "Meeting the Moment," which featured singers, poets and speakers from the HIV community. ViiV's other educational efforts include production of a second season of its "Be Seen" podcast.
"The Mind Control Menace" created by FCB New York and Marvel Comics, in partnership with the FDA, is a digital and animated comic book series on the dangers of vaping. It is part of the FDA's "The Real Cost" campaign, which began seven years ago to reduce teen smoking and now has added vaping.
Hollywood script writers are gleaning insight from physicians and other health care professionals as they incorporate COVID-19 into their story lines. "People in fact do believe what they see on TV and it's imperative that we provide accurate information," says Neal Baer, a physician who was a writer and producer on shows like "ER" and "Designated Survivor."
Varian and Google Cloud are working together to boost cancer radiation therapy by building an artificial intelligence-based diagnostic platform. "[W]e have committed ourselves to intelligent cancer care, which seeks to automate routine or repetitive tasks in the radiation oncology workflow through the use of smart algorithms, machine learning and AI," said Corey Zankowski, senior VP of Varian's technology and innovation office.