Moderna Strikes Deal to Develop mRNA Drugs in China
Moderna on Wednesday said it struck a deal with Chinese officials to research, develop and manufacture messenger RNA medicines in the country, despite rising tensions between the U.S. and China.
The Massachusetts-based biotech company signed a memorandum of understanding and a related land collaboration deal to develop drugs that will “be exclusively for the Chinese people” and won’t “be exported,” a Moderna spokesperson told CNBC.
Chinese media outlet Yicai first reported on Tuesday that Moderna was slated to make its first investment in China which could be worth around $1 billion, citing unnamed sources. The outlet also reported that Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel was visiting Shanghai.
Moderna is trying to capitalize on the success of its COVID vaccine, which uses a platform called mRNA to teach human cells to produce an immune response against a virus.
Rare Link Between Coronavirus Vaccines and Long COVID–Like Illness Starts to Gain Acceptance
COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives, and the world is gearing up for a new round of boosters. But like all vaccines, those targeting the coronavirus can cause side effects in some people, including rare cases of abnormal blood clotting and heart inflammation.
Another apparent complication, a debilitating suite of symptoms that resembles Long COVID, has been more elusive, its link to vaccination unclear and its diagnostic features ill-defined. But in recent months, what some call Long Vax has gained wider acceptance among doctors and scientists, and some are now working to better understand and treat its symptoms.
Despite the uncertainties, German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach acknowledged in March that though rare, Long COVID–like symptoms after vaccination are a real phenomenon. He said his ministry was working to organize funding for studies, although none has been announced so far.
Woman Files $10.5 Million Lawsuit Against Federal Government and CBC for Vaccine Harms
A Canadian mother of three who says she suffered “permanent, significant physical, psychological, and emotional harms, and other damages” after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine has filed a $10.5 million lawsuit against the federal government, CBC News, and others.
According to a July 3 media release by the groups Empowered Canadians and the Institute for Freedom and Justice, the lawsuit was filed in the Court of King’s Bench in Lethbridge, Alberta, against the federal minister of health, the chief public health officer of Canada, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Alberta Health Services, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, among others.
According to the release, Sakamoto was a “previously healthy woman” until she received her second COVID-19 vaccine. Shortly afterward, she was admitted to Lethbridge Hospital with paralysis in her face, mouth, and tongue, and difficulty eating and blinking. Sakamoto remained on a feeding tube in the hospital for 17 days.
After a medical evaluation, the 47-year-old was diagnosed with a severe and permanent case of Bell’s palsy, a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face, the release says. Sakamoto went on to experience chronic health issues such as facial paralysis, vision impairment, dizziness, memory loss, cognitive impairment, sleep disruption, speech impairment, and tinnitus.
More Than Three-Quarters of Americans 16 and Older Have Been Infected With COVID: CDC
U.S. News & World Report reported:
While a little more than half of American adults think they’ve had COVID-19, the reality is about 77.5% have been infected at least once, new government data shows.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released final estimates for people ages 16 and up for 2022.
About 96.7% of adults had antibodies to the virus either from infection, vaccination or a combination of the two, the CDC reported. But U.S. Census data shows that only 54.9% of Americans think they have had COVID.
Estimates for children were previously released, using data from commercial testing laboratories, in which nine of 10 people under age 18 had been infected, CBS News reported.
Naloxone Being Studied to Treat Long COVID Chronic Fatigue
University Hospital’s COVID-19 Recovery Clinic doctors are now in the treatment phase of their studies, researching and developing different protocols, therapies, and medications that can improve long COVID-19 symptoms. Clinic head, David Rosenberg, said some drugs look hopeful.
“Naloxone or Narcan, which is an opioid blocker,” Rosenberg said. “That’s been potentially useful in certain patients.”
Historically, low doses of a drug called Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist primarily used to treat alcohol addiction, have shown to be effective in post-viral fatigue syndrome. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a rescue medication for opioid overdoses. It has a similar mechanism of action as Naltrexone and could have similar efficacy for long COVID-19 fatigue.
No Texts. No Contracts. No Criticism. How Europe’s COVID Inquiry Went Dark
It all started so promisingly. In March 2022, the European Parliament set up a special committee on COVID-19, fueled by the desire to restore some democratic accountability to decisions where Europe’s lawmakers felt they had been sidelined.
The time seemed right for a transparency push. Just weeks earlier, the European Ombudsman had scolded the Commission for not searching for text messages allegedly exchanged between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the run-up to signing the EU’s biggest vaccine contract. Yet, 16 months later, we know nothing more about the mysterious texts and what little we do know about the vaccine contracts comes from media leaks.
On May 30 this year, a little over a week before its final meeting, a select group of MEPs in the European Parliament’s committee on COVID-19 were sworn to secrecy and privately briefed on the outcome of a new vaccine deal struck by the European Commission with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Pierre Delsaux, head of the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), provided the MEPs with details of updates to the EU’s 2021 mega-contract to buy Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, which had put the bloc on the hook for 1.1 billion doses. HERA had led negotiations to reduce the number of vaccine deliveries from the U.S. pharmaceutical giant, following a request from EU countries who were struggling with an oversupply.
