Tag: Covid

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Health

CDC can contemplate lifting indoor Covid masks mandates now

CDC can consider lifting indoor Covid mask mandates now

Dr. Scott Gottlieb said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may begin considering lifting mandates on inner masks as more Americans become vaccinated.

“I think we should start lifting these restrictions as aggressively as we put them in place,” said Gottlieb. “We need to maintain the credibility of health officials to potentially re-implement some of these regulations next winter when we see outbreaks again.”

The former FDA chief in the Trump administration added that “the only way to gain public credibility is to show that you are ready to relax these regulations if the situation improves.”

The US Covid positivity rate is 3.6%, an all-time low according to Johns Hopkins University. It’s a big difference from April 2020 when the positivity rate hit nearly 23%, meaning almost a quarter of all tests done were positive.

In an interview on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” Thursday night, Gottlieb stated that the general outlook for vaccination in the US “looks very good,” especially as the FDA prepares to sell Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for 12-15 Years to admit – age soon.

“Even if vaccination rates slow down, we will continue to try to vaccinate more people … but I think these profits are limited and the summer is looking very good,” said Gottlieb.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, the genetic testing startup Tempus, and the biotech company Illumina. Pfizer has signed a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for Remdesivir. Gottlieb is also co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel.

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Business

India’s wealthy should not the one ones fleeing Covid disaster

India's rich are not the only ones fleeing Covid crisis

Tycoons and Bollywood stars may be some of the best-known residents fleeing India’s coast by private jets as the coronavirus crisis escalates – but they’re by no means the only ones, according to JetSetGo, a private jet charter company.

The situation in India has gotten so bad that even upper-middle-class families are pooling their resources to flee, its co-founder and CEO Kanika Tekriwal told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia.

The South Asian country, which has grappled with a devastating surge in the virus, recorded 412,262 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to more than 28 million.

“To say that only wealthy Indians leave India on private jets would be wrong,” said Tekriwal of the Maldives on Thursday.

“What we’ve really seen in the past 10 days is anyone who can put together the resources and funds to raise money for a private jet or to raise money just to get out of the country and get off.”

It’s just people raising money to leave the country. I think they are the ones who fear Covid the most.

Kanika Tekriwal

Co-founder and CEO of JetSetGo

Tekriwal said JetSetGo has seen bookings grow by 900% in the past few weeks – with roughly 70% to 80% coming from the upper-middle class rather than their regular, very wealthy customers. Most of them are fleeing to the Maldives, which are currently offering quarantine in a remote resort for passengers from India, or to Dubai, where entry is possible for business reasons.

“They are just people raising money to get out of the country. I think they fear Covid the most because they are not particularly rich or the most accessible to medical care,” she said.

During a weekly market in Kandivali you can see crowds shopping.

SOPA pictures | LightRocket | Getty Images

JetSetGo hasn’t increased its rates to respond to rising demand, Tekriwal said, adding, “That would be opportunistic and wrong.”

But at $ 18,000 to $ 20,000 for an eight-seat jet to the Maldives or $ 31,000 for a six-seat jet to Dubai, the trip isn’t cheap – even for India’s upper-middle class, who make more than $ 15,000 a year.

However, Tekriwal said the situation was so out of control that in some cases the price of a private jet flight could be below hospital fees.

Most of my clients have told me that: “We can spend six months’ salary or our savings on fleeing the country.”

Kanika Tekriwal

Co-founder and CEO of JetSetGo

The hospital stay costs about $ 2,500 a night, she said. “It’s what hospital rooms are aimed at. Even if you have two family members in the hospital for 14 days, you’ll see double the price of a flight to Dubai.”

“This is what most of my clients have told me: ‘We are okay with spending six months’ salary or savings on fleeing the country instead of being in half a hospital bed not knowing how much we’re going to make or when we’re going to pay get a hospital bed at all.“”

Tekriwal added that passengers who test positive for Covid-19 will not be accepted on their regular flights. However, the company offers a separate national and international air ambulance service.

However, a private jet does not guarantee an escape from the virus.

Despite enforcing new security measures since last March – including mandatory testing, regular disinfection of aircraft, and no interaction between passengers and crew – Tekriwal said 30% of its employees have continued to test positive for the virus.

“What hurts me the most is that these teams come in, come out and work with people to get them safely from point A to point B. And when they test positive, they bring the virus home to their families. To theirs young children and their parents, which is pretty worrying, “she said.

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Business

Covid vaccine makers’ shares seesaw after U.S. says it would again patent waivers

Covid vaccine makers' shares seesaw after U.S. says it will back patent waivers

A healthcare worker fills a syringe with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. At the Giorgio Companies site in Blandon, PA where the CATE Mobile Vaccination Unit was on site to deliver Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to workers on Wednesday morning April 14, 2021.

Ben Hasty | MediaNews Group | Getty Images

Stocks of two Covid vaccine makers fluctuated Thursday after the Biden government announced it would support a motion before the World Trade Organization to forego patent protection for the mRNA technology used to manufacture the vaccines.

Pfizer was down as much as 5% on Thursday from Wednesday’s close of trading, while Moderna fell nearly 12% before both stocks made up for most of those losses. The companies use the same mRNA technology to make their recordings.

Pfizer, which makes its Covid-19 vaccine with German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, closed about 1% that day, while Moderna lost about 1.4% that day.

South Africa and India are urging US officials and the WTO to temporarily forego patent protection so developing countries can manufacture life-saving vaccines until world leaders can bring the pandemic under control. Human rights organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and Amnesty International have all signed letters in support of the proposal.

US sales representative Katherine Tai released a statement Wednesday evening in support of the waiver.

“This is a global health crisis and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” she said. “The government firmly believes that protecting intellectual property, but in the service of ending this pandemic, supports the removal of this protection for COVID-19 vaccines.”

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told investors on a earnings call Thursday that he had “not lost a minute of sleep” on the news and said traders’ concerns were false.

Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca both use an adenovirus, a common type of virus that typically causes mild cold symptoms, to make their Covid vaccines. The stocks of these two companies barely changed on Thursday.

President Joe Biden made an election promise last year to “absolutely positively” renounce vaccination patents. The waiver of patent protection can take months or even years.

Critics of the move say that developing countries do not have the infrastructure to produce the vaccines, others disagree.

Analysts largely shook off the news.

“We believe a new manufacturing operation can take 6 to 9 months to scale up, effectively limiting the impact of other manufacturers. While we expect the headlines to put pressure on MRNA, we don’t see any significant practical impact from this news,” said the Morgan Stanley analysts said in a research report Thursday.

Bank of America analysts cited “obstacles to vaccine development, including sourcing raw materials, developing manufacturing and engineering know-how.” They also note that “US support does not mean approval when WTO decisions require consensus and other members such as the EU, UK, Japan and Switzerland are currently opposed to surrendering intellectual property.”

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out against the exemptions together with these countries on Thursday. “The limiting factor in the manufacture of vaccines is the production capacity and high quality standards, not the patents,” a Merkel spokeswoman said in a statement.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, did not accept the waiver plan and stated in a speech that she was “ready to discuss proposals that would address the crisis in an effective and pragmatic way”.

Both Pfizer and Moderna already have plans to produce billions of cans in the meantime, leaving essentially all competitors far behind in the manufacturing process.

Categories
Politics

Biden Backs Suspending Patents on Covid Vaccines

Biden Backs Suspending Patents on Covid Vaccines

Global health activists who pushed for the renouncement praised the government’s decision. It is “a truly historic move that shows that President Biden is committed to being not just an American but a global leader,” said Priti Krishtel, executive director of the Drugs, Access and Knowledge Initiative.

But the activists said not doing it alone would not increase the global vaccine supply. It must be accompanied by a process called “technology transfer” in which patent holders provide technical know-how and personnel. Activists are also calling for Mr Biden to use his leverage to ensure that production grows around the globe, and not just from the drug companies that now hold the patents.

“No USTR has made such a statement,” said Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP, a global advocacy group for AIDS treatment, using the abbreviation for the commercial agent. “And now the actions must match the words.”

The announcement by the United States is only one step towards a possible international agreement to suspend intellectual property rights. Negotiating the fine print of an agreement that satisfies countries around the world is a huge task. If an agreement can be reached in the World Trade Organization, it will be far from clear what would happen next.

Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, professor of patent law at Stanford Law School, suggested that the move by the Biden administration could help get the pharmaceutical industry to “do business they can live with.”

Updated

May 6, 2021, 5:52 p.m. ET

Ana Santos Rutschman, a health law expert at Saint Louis University Law School, said the pharmaceutical industry now has a clear incentive to “shift the debate to the global justice issue of access to doses that we can actually produce, rather than addressing them tremendous struggle. “The best choice for businesses, she said, might be to donate more doses of vaccine or to sell them for charitable purposes to lower-income countries in need.

The debate about relaxing intellectual property rules has been going on for months. India and South Africa proposed the derogation last fall to suspend parts of an international intellectual property agreement that addresses issues such as patents, copyrights and trade secrets. Under President Donald J. Trump, the United States rejected the effort. Other opponents were Great Britain and the European Union.

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Business

China journey bookings soar throughout Could Labor Day vacation as Covid eases

China travel bookings soar during May Labor Day holiday as Covid eases

Visitors stroll along the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China in Beijing, China on Tuesday May 4, 2021.

Yan Cong | Bloomberg | Getty Images

BEIJING – Millions of Chinese rushed to travel over the five-day Labor Day holiday, another sign of a gradual recovery in domestic consumption.

May 1-5 was the “hottest” holiday travel holiday since the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese travel booking site Trip.com said in a statement translated by CNBC on Wednesday. The reappearance of Covid-19 on the outskirts of Beijing earlier this year prompted local authorities to restrict travel during the Spring Festival in February.

Labor Day vacation bookings for hotels, rental cars, and other trips have more than tripled from the same period last year and are up more than 30% since 2019, Trip.com said without disclosing the dollar amounts. According to Trip.com, the Shanghai Disney Resort was one of the top 10 travel destinations, even for 21 year olds and youngsters.

Chinese consumers spent 1.67 billion yuan ($ 260 million) on movies during the holidays, mostly domestic movies, according to Maoyan ticketing website.

In total, 230 million trips were made within the country during this period, an increase of almost 18% from 2019, according to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

However, the total spending of 113.23 billion yuan ($ 17.48 billion) was about 4 billion yuan lower than the 2019 spending, the data showed.

At that level, per capita spending during the holidays was around 75% of 2019’s spending, said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “Overall, the economic trend continues to improve, but part of the service sector is not yet at the pre-Covid level.”

Individual consumer spending lagged behind the recovery in the Chinese economy as Covid-19 forced more than half of the country to temporarily shut down in early 2020. Retail sales declined last year despite overall GDP growth before rising in the first quarter of 2021.

International travelers turn to Hainan

The rush to travel domestically comes with quarantine requirements, and travel bans keep most Chinese people from venturing overseas.

Chinese international travel is down 87% over the past year and is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until the second quarter of 2023, consulting firm Oliver Wyman said in a report last week.

That means billions of dollars not spent overseas could potentially be spent at home or saved for future purchases, the report said. Chinese consumers spent $ 245 billion overseas in 2019.

The analysis found that nearly 60% of these travelers migrate to the southern tropical island province of Hainan, which has expanded its duty-free shopping centers in recent years.

For high-end luxury brands, Hainan will be much more appealing to them if they can open their own stores in the future rather than through a duty-free operator.

Imke Wouters

Partner at Oliver Wyman

According to state media, duty-free sales in Hainan from May 1st to May 4th were over 700 million yuan, citing the latest available figures from the local customs authority. For comparison, an eight-day vacation in October saw duty-free sales of 1.04 billion yuan in Hainan.

“May is the first (moment when) you can really see the true potential of Hainan without travel restrictions,” said Oliver Wyman partner Imke Wouters in a telephone interview on Thursday.

However, she pointed out that brands are currently required to partner with duty free centers in Hainan. As a result, profitability could be up to 50% less than in-house branches on the mainland.

“For high-end luxury brands, Hainan will be much more appealing to them if they can open their own stores in the future rather than through a duty-free operator,” said Wouters.

Categories
World News

India’s worsening Covid disaster may spiral into an issue for the world

India’s worsening Covid crisis could spiral into a problem for the world

A woman wearing a mask against Covid-19 as a precaution stands in a crowded area near India Gate in New Delhi on March 19, 2021 as coronavirus cases continue to rise across India.

Money sharma | AFP | Getty Images

India’s Covid-19 cases soared to daily record highs in April, and experts warn that the country’s deepening health crisis could undo efforts to end the global pandemic.

The South Asian country, which is home to around 1.4 billion people, or 18% of the world’s population, was responsible for 46% of new Covid cases worldwide last week, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. One in four deaths in the past week came from India, the UN health department said.

India has reported more than 300,000 new cases daily for the past two weeks, overtaking Brazil in April to become the second worst infected country in the world. According to the Ministry of Health, the cumulative coronavirus infections in India reached around 20.67 million on Wednesday with more than 226,000 deaths. However, several studies of India’s data found that cases were likely severely underreported.

There are already Signs that India’s outbreak is spreading to other countries. Neighbors Nepal and Sri Lanka have also reported spikes in infections, while other regional economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore have imported Covid cases from India.

So the coronavirus crisis in India could turn into a bigger global problem.

Possible new Covid variants

Prolonged large outbreaks in any country could increase the possibility of new variants of Covid-19, health experts warned. Some of the variants could elude immune responses triggered by vaccines and previous infections.

“Here’s the bottom line: we know there are variations in major outbreaks. And so far our vaccines are holding up, we’re seeing a few breakthrough infections, but not a lot,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health, told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith”.

“But India is a big country, and of course if there are big outbreaks there we will all be concerned about other variants that are bad for Indians and of course spread around the world,” he added.

India first discovered variant B.1.617 in October last year – also known as the “double mutant”. The variant has now been reported in at least 17 countries, including the US, UK and Singapore.

The WHO has classified the B.1.617 as an interesting variant, suggesting that the mutated strain may be more contagious, deadly, and more resistant to current vaccines and treatments. The organization said more study is needed to understand the meaning of the variant.

Global vaccine supply at risk

India is a major vaccine maker, but the domestic health crisis has prompted authorities to stop exporting Covid-19 vaccines as the country prioritizes its domestic needs.

The Serum Institute of India (SII) – the country’s main producer – has the right to manufacture the Covid vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Part of the production is planned for Covax, the global initiative to supply poor countries with Covid vaccines.

Developing countries are lagging behind advanced countries in securing vaccine supplies in what the WHO has called a “shocking imbalance” in distribution.

Delaying vaccine exports through India could therefore leave lower-income countries vulnerable to new coronavirus outbreaks.

Threat to the global economy

India is the sixth largest economy in the world and is a major contributor to global growth.

Some economists have downgraded their growth forecasts for India. However, they remained optimistic about the outlook for the economy for the year as the restrictions to curb the spread of the virus were more targeted compared to the strict nationwide lockdown last year.

The International Monetary Fund expected the Indian economy to grow 12.5% ​​in the fiscal year ended March 2022 last month, after shrinking 8% in the previous fiscal year.

However, the renewed outbreak in India has resulted in several countries tightening travel restrictions – and that’s bad news for airlines, airports and other companies that depend on the travel industry, said Uma Kambhampati, an economics professor at the University of Reading in the USA United Kingdom

Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has warned that India’s health crisis could weigh on the U.S. economy, Reuters reported. According to the report, many U.S. companies are hiring millions of Indian workers to perform their back office operations.

“With all these problems and the spreading humanitarian crisis, it has become imperative for the world to act quickly to help India, whether or not such aid is requested,” said Kambhampati in a report published on The Conversation has been published. Profit website with comments from academics and researchers.

Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect that the World Health Organization said India caused 46% of the new Covid cases worldwide over the past week. Due to an editing bug, an earlier version of the story misrepresented the timeframe.

Categories
Health

New Covid Instances in Arizona Are Up 21 P.c in Two Weeks

New Covid Cases in Arizona Are Up 21 Percent in Two Weeks

While most of the United States has seen a steady decline in new coronavirus cases recently, Arizona was an outlier.

The state has not been inundated with another wave of the virus, but public health experts are concerned about a steady increase in cases and hospitalizations. As of Tuesday, Arizona’s daily average was up 19 percent in the past two weeks, the second largest increase in the nation over that period after Wyoming. Only four other states reported increases of more than 10 percent during this period: Washington, Hawaii, Arkansas and Oregon.

The daily number of new cases in Arizona is 10 per 100,000 people, still below the national average of 14 per 100,000. In the past 14 days, the country has seen a 26 percent decrease in new coronavirus cases, and 27 states have seen a 15 percent or more decrease in new coronavirus cases, according to a New York Times database.

Will Humble, a former state health director who heads the Arizona Public Health Association, attributed the spike in new cases to several factors, including a spring influx of travelers and the spread of a variant of the virus first discovered in the UK. Variant B.1.1.7 was associated with increased transferability.

Mr Humble said the Arizona surge likely wouldn’t result in a significant increase in deaths, which have declined in the state. Most older adults and other people in the state who are at increased risk of developing serious illnesses have already been vaccinated, while those in their twenties, thirties, and forties who are more likely to have new infections are more likely to be.

Mr Humble said the surge in cases had “very different public health implications” than it did a few months ago, when far fewer people were vaccinated.

“We’re not going to have the kind of deadly experiences we’d have in December, January or February,” said Humble. Even so, there has been “a remarkable upward movement” in hospital and intensive care units.

Arizona was slow to put restrictions in place last summer and was quick to remove them as falls have skyrocketed and ICU beds are nearly full. From early June to mid-July, the state reported new cases at the highest rate in the country for its size, peaking at 3,800 per day.

In January, Arizona again had its highest daily incidence rate in a while. At one point it was averaging over 8,000 a day, more than double that of the summer summit.

Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order in March that lifted all Covid-19 restrictions in the state and prevented local governments from issuing mask mandates.

Mr Humble said politics may have made Arizona more vulnerable: “There is no mitigation here at all, and it has not been in months,” he said.

About 41 percent of Arizonans received a first dose of the vaccine, and 30 percent were fully vaccinated, just below the national average. However, the picture varies greatly from country to country. Three of Arizona’s 15 counties vaccinated more than 40 percent of residents, but five vaccinated less than 30 percent as of Tuesday.

Dr. Cara Christ, the director of the Arizona Department of Health, said last month that the initial rush for vaccines had slowed significantly. “Before, vaccine appointments were made almost immediately as soon as they were available,” she said. “The time has come now that it is possible to make an appointment on the same day at practically every state location.”

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Health

This New Covid Vaccine May Carry Hope to the Unvaccinated World

This New Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope to the Unvaccinated World

Anfang 2020 versuchten Dutzende wissenschaftlicher Teams, einen Impfstoff gegen Covid-19 herzustellen. Einige entschieden sich für bewährte Techniken wie die Herstellung von Impfstoffen aus abgetöteten Viren. Eine Handvoll Unternehmen setzen jedoch auf eine riskantere Methode, bei der noch nie ein zugelassener Impfstoff hergestellt wurde: den Einsatz eines genetischen Moleküls namens RNA.

Die Wette hat sich ausgezahlt. Die ersten beiden Impfstoffe, die aus klinischen Studien von Pfizer-BioNTech und Moderna erfolgreich hervorgegangen sind, bestanden beide aus RNA. Es stellte sich heraus, dass beide Wirksamkeitsraten so gut waren, wie ein Impfstoff nur sein konnte.

In den folgenden Monaten haben diese beiden RNA-Impfstoffe zig Millionen Menschen in rund 90 Ländern geschützt. Aber viele Teile der Welt, einschließlich derer mit steigenden Todesopfern, hatten kaum Zugang zu ihnen, auch weil sie in einem Tiefkühlschrank gehalten werden müssen.

Jetzt kann ein dritter RNA-Impfstoff dazu beitragen, diesen globalen Bedarf zu decken. Ein kleines deutsches Unternehmen namens CureVac steht kurz vor der Bekanntgabe der Ergebnisse seiner späten klinischen Studie. Bereits nächste Woche kann die Welt erfahren, ob der Impfstoff sicher und wirksam ist.

Das Produkt von CureVac gehört zu dem, was viele Wissenschaftler als zweite Welle von Covid-19-Impfstoffen bezeichnen, die die weltweite Nachfrage insgesamt senken könnten. Novavax, ein in Maryland ansässiges Unternehmen, dessen Impfstoff Coronavirus-Proteine ​​verwendet, wird voraussichtlich in den nächsten Wochen eine US-Zulassung beantragen. In Indien testet das Pharmaunternehmen Biological E einen weiteren Impfstoff auf Proteinbasis, der von Forschern in Texas entwickelt wurde. In Brasilien, Mexiko, Thailand und Vietnam starten Forscher Versuche für einen Covid-19-Schuss, der in Hühnereiern in Massenproduktion hergestellt werden kann.

Impfstoffexperten sind besonders gespannt auf die Ergebnisse von CureVac, da die Impfung einen wichtigen Vorteil gegenüber den anderen RNA-Impfstoffen von Moderna und Pfizer-BioNTech hat. Während diese beiden Impfstoffe in einer Tiefkühltruhe aufbewahrt werden müssen, bleibt der Impfstoff von CureVac im Kühlschrank stabil – was bedeutet, dass er die neu entdeckte Kraft von RNA-Impfstoffen leichter an schwer betroffene Teile der Welt liefern kann.

“Es ist weitgehend unter dem Radar verschwunden”, sagte Jacob Kirkegaard, Senior Fellow am Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Jetzt fügte er hinzu: “Sie sehen ziemlich gut positioniert aus, um den globalen Markt aufzuräumen.”

Für den Mitbegründer von CureVac, den Biologen Ingmar Hoerr, ist die Covid-19-Impfstoffstudie des Unternehmens der Höhepunkt einer Arbeit von einem Vierteljahrhundert mit RNA, einem Molekül, das dazu beiträgt, DNA in Proteine ​​umzuwandeln, die die Arbeit unserer Zellen erledigen. Als Doktorand an der Universität Tübingen in den 1990er Jahren injizierte Dr. Hoerr Mäusen RNA und stellte fest, dass die Tiere das von den Molekülen kodierte Protein herstellen konnten. Er war überrascht festzustellen, dass das Immunsystem der Mäuse Antikörper gegen die neuen Proteine ​​bildete.

Hier, dachte Dr. Hoerr, könnte dies die Grundlage für eine neue Art von Impfstoff sein. “Ich dachte, Wow, wenn das beim Menschen so funktioniert, dann haben wir eine völlig neue pharmazeutische Möglichkeit”, sagte er.

Zu dieser Zeit betrachteten nur wenige Wissenschaftler auf der Welt einen RNA-Impfstoff als ernsthafte Möglichkeit. Aber Befürworter dachten, es könnte die Medizin verändern. Theoretisch könnte man ein RNA-Molekül herstellen, um Menschen gegen jedes Virus zu immunisieren. Sie könnten sogar in der Lage sein, einen RNA-Impfstoff zur Heilung von Krebs zu entwickeln, wenn Sie ein RNA-Molekül herstellen könnten, das ein Tumorprotein codiert.

Im Jahr 2001 war Dr. Hoerr Mitbegründer von CureVac, um der Idee nachzujagen. In den ersten Jahren kämpfte das Unternehmen jedoch ums Überleben. Um das Licht an zu halten, wurden Aufträge von anderen Labors für maßgeschneiderte RNA-Moleküle entgegengenommen. Nebenbei bastelten die Wissenschaftler von CureVac an ihren eigenen Entwürfen für RNA-Impfstoffe.

Im Laufe der Zeit fanden sie subtile Verbesserungen an RNA-Impfstoffmolekülen, die dazu führten, dass Zellen mehr Proteine ​​produzierten. Je wirksamer die RNA ist, desto niedriger ist die Dosis, die sie für Impfstoffe benötigt.

Die Forscher von CureVac fanden auch heraus, wie die RNA-Moleküle in Fettblasen eingebracht werden können, um sie auf ihrem Weg zu den Zellen vor Zerstörung zu schützen. Und vielleicht am wichtigsten war, dass sie eine Form von RNA verwendeten, die bei relativ warmen Temperaturen stabil bleiben konnte. Anstatt eine Tiefkühltruhe zu benötigen, könnte der Impfstoff von CureVac gekühlt werden.

Mit der Zeit stiegen auch andere Unternehmen in das Geschäft mit RNA-Impfstoffen ein: BioNTech in Deutschland im Jahr 2008, dann Moderna in Boston im Jahr 2011. Ihre Experimente zeigten, dass diese Impfstoffe Tiere vor einer Vielzahl von Viren schützen können. Im Jahr 2013 injizierte CureVac Freiwilligen in der ersten klinischen Studie der Technologie gegen eine Infektionskrankheit einen Tollwut-RNA-Impfstoff.

CureVac und andere RNA-Impfstoffhersteller haben jahrelang daran gearbeitet, ihre Impfstoffe zu perfektionieren. Der erste Versuch von CureVac mit einem Tollwutimpfstoff zeigte, dass er sicher war, aber eine schwache Reaktion des Immunsystems hervorrief. Das Unternehmen hat diesen Impfstoff inzwischen umgerüstet, und die aktualisierte Version hat sich in frühen klinischen Studien als vielversprechend erwiesen. Aber andere Bemühungen scheiterten. Im Jahr 2017 gab CureVac bekannt, dass sein RNA-Impfstoff gegen Prostatakrebs den Patienten keine Vorteile bietet.

Trotz dieser Rückschläge hat sich das Unternehmen einen guten Ruf erworben. “Sie haben die Kriterien für wissenschaftlichen Scharfsinn, Geschwindigkeit, Umfang und Zugang erfüllt”, sagte Nicholas Jackson, Leiter der Impfstoffforschung und -entwicklung bei der Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, einer Stiftung, die die Impfstoffforschung unterstützt. CEPI spendete CureVac 2019 34 Millionen US-Dollar, um die Entwicklung von RNA-Impfstoffen für zukünftige Pandemien zu unterstützen.

Aktualisiert

5. Mai 2021, 15:31 Uhr ET

Als die Coronavirus-Pandemie auftrat, sprangen CureVac, BioNTech und Moderna ein, um RNA-Impfstoffe herzustellen. Aber BioNTech und Moderna haben sich bald durchgesetzt, auch dank tief in die Tasche gesteckter Verbündeter. BioNTech hat sich mit dem Pharmagiganten Pfizer zusammengetan, während Moderna mit den National Institutes of Health zusammenarbeitete und im Rahmen der Operation Warp Speed ​​eine Milliarde Dollar von der US-Regierung erhielt.

CureVac blieb zurück. CEPI stellte dem Unternehmen 15 Millionen US-Dollar zur Verfügung, aber CureVac würde weit mehr benötigen. “Wenn Sie dies tun, brauchen Sie eine beträchtliche Menge Geld”, sagte Franz-Werner Haas, der Geschäftsführer von CureVac, in einem Interview. “Und die beträchtliche Menge an Bargeld war nicht da.”

Im März 2020 berichteten deutsche Zeitungen, dass Präsident Donald J. Trump CureVac 1 Milliarde US-Dollar angeboten hatte, um seine Aktivitäten in die USA zu verlagern. CureVac lehnte die Berichte ab, aber der Geschäftsführer ging plötzlich, um von Dr. Haas ersetzt zu werden.

Die Forscher von CureVac haben ihre begrenzten Ressourcen weiterentwickelt und ein RNA-Molekül entwickelt, das für ein Protein kodiert, das sich auf der Oberfläche des Coronavirus befindet und als Spike bezeichnet wird. Experimente an Hamstern zeigten, dass es die Tiere vor dem Virus schützen kann.

Im Juni investierte die Bundesregierung 300 Millionen Euro in das Covid-19-Research von CureVac, weitere Investoren folgten bald. Nach vielversprechenden Daten aus frühen Sicherheitsstudien startete das Unternehmen im Dezember seine letzte sogenannte Phase-3-Studie, in der 40.000 Freiwillige in Europa und Lateinamerika rekrutiert wurden. Das Unternehmen wird einen ersten Blick auf die Daten werfen, wenn 56 Freiwillige Covid-19 entwickeln. Wenn die meisten von ihnen in der Placebo-Gruppe und nur wenige in der geimpften Gruppe sind, ist dies ein Beweis dafür, dass der Impfstoff funktioniert.

Dr. Haas sagte, er rechne damit, diese Daten bis Mitte Mai zu haben. Es gibt keine Möglichkeit, im Voraus zu wissen, wie es CureVac ergeht. Angesichts der Leistung anderer RNA-Impfstoffe und der frühen Ergebnisse von CureVac haben einige Wissenschaftler hohe Erwartungen.

“Ich wäre nur wirklich überrascht, wenn es nicht gut funktionieren würde”, sagte John Moore, Virologe bei Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, der mit CureVac an einem RNA-basierten Impfstoff gegen HIV zusammengearbeitet hat

Dennoch steht der Impfstoff von CureVac vor einer Herausforderung, die Pfizer und Moderna nicht hatten: neue Varianten, die möglicherweise seine Wirksamkeit beeinträchtigen können. Experimente an Mäusen haben gezeigt, dass der Impfstoff gut gegen die B.1.351-Variante wirkt, die erstmals in Südafrika aufgetaucht ist.

Im vergangenen Jahr hat CureVac mit einer Reihe großer Unternehmen zusammengearbeitet, um die Produktion seines Covid-Impfstoffs zu steigern, falls die klinischen Studien gut verlaufen sollten. Das Unternehmen verhandelte außerdem mit der Europäischen Union einen Vertrag über 225 Millionen Dosen sowie die Option, in den folgenden Monaten weitere 180 Millionen Dosen hinzuzufügen.

Jetzt ist jedoch nicht klar, wer den CureVac-Impfstoff erhalten könnte, wenn er nächsten Monat verfügbar sein wird. Im Januar erteilte die Europäische Union einem Impfstoff von AstraZeneca die Notfallgenehmigung und plante, sich für den größten Teil seiner Versorgung auf dieses Unternehmen zu verlassen. Aber AstraZeneca blieb drastisch hinter seinen Lieferversprechen zurück und veranlasste den Block, sich mit einer Klage zu rächen.

Im April hat die Europäische Union dieses Defizit endgültig behoben und mit Pfizer und BioNTech verhandelt, um bis 2023 1,8 Milliarden Dosen ihres Impfstoffs zu erhalten. Aufgrund dieser Vereinbarung haben sich Analysten gefragt, wie viel Nachfrage nach CureVac noch bestehen wird.

“Sie werden das Boot auf den großen Märkten der fortgeschrittenen Wirtschaft vermissen”, sagte Dr. Kirkegaard. “Die USA, Europa und Japan werden mit diesen Moderna- und Pfizer-Impfstoffen weitgehend geimpft.”

Dr. Haas konterte, dass die meisten Dosen des Blocks von Pfizer-BioNTech erst im nächsten Jahr kommen werden. “CureVac sieht sich als wichtiger Akteur bei der Beendigung der Covid-19-Pandemie in Europa und anderswo”, sagte er.

CureVac wird aber auch mit einem weltweiten Mangel an Rohstoffen zu kämpfen haben, die für RNA-Impfstoffe benötigt werden. Das Defizit ist für das Unternehmen besonders akut, da die Importe aus den USA durch das Defence Production Act begrenzt sind. Im Gegensatz zu Pfizer-BioNTech oder Moderna verfügt CureVac über keine US-Einrichtungen.

“Das US Defence Production Act war ein Faktor, der unseren Zugang zu einigen Materialien und Vorräten beeinflusste”, sagte Dr. Haas. “Wir gehen jedoch derzeit nicht davon aus, dass dies unsere Produktionsprognosen für den Rest des Jahres 2021 und darüber hinaus wesentlich beeinflussen wird.”

Ursula von der Leyen, Präsidentin der Europäischen Kommission, sagte, wenn der CureVac-Impfstoff funktionieren würde, wäre er dank zweier Vorteile in der Mischung: Es handelt sich um einen mRNA-Impfstoff, der in Europa hergestellt wurde. Es ist auch möglich, dass einzelne europäische Nationen Nebengeschäfte mit dem Unternehmen abschließen.

Milliarden anderer Menschen in Ländern mit niedrigem und mittlerem Einkommen haben noch keinen Impfstoff erhalten, und Experten sagen, dass CureVac einen Teil ihrer Nachfrage befriedigen könnte. “Wir brauchen weltweit immer noch viel Impfstoff”, sagte Florian Krammer, Virologe an der Icahn School of Medicine am Mount Sinai in New York. “Ich denke, viele Menschen können davon profitieren.”

Die Impfstoffe von Moderna und Pfizer-BioNTech sind in Entwicklungsländern aufgrund der zum Einfrieren dieser Impfstoffe erforderlichen Ausrüstung und Stromversorgung nur schwer zu vertreiben. Der RNA-Impfstoff von CureVac kann bei 41 Grad Fahrenheit mindestens drei Monate lang stabil bleiben und vor der Verwendung 24 Stunden lang bei Raumtemperatur stehen.

“Die Stabilität ist ein echter Vorteil”, sagte Dr. Jackson. CEPI befindet sich “in sehr aktiven Gesprächen” mit CureVac über die Verteilung des Impfstoffs des Unternehmens über Covax, eine Initiative zur Verteilung von Impfstoffen an Länder mit niedrigem und mittlerem Einkommen.

CureVac entwickelt aber auch eine neue Generation von Impfstoffen mit dem Ziel, schließlich auf den Märkten in den USA und anderen reichen Ländern Fuß zu fassen. Da für seine potente RNA nur eine geringe Dosis erforderlich ist, könnte das Unternehmen möglicherweise Impfstoffe für verschiedene Varianten herstellen und diese in einem einzigen Schuss mischen.

Solche Möglichkeiten sind jedoch bedeutungslos, bis CureVac nachweisen kann, dass sein Impfstoff funktioniert. Mary Warrell, eine Impfstoffforscherin an der Universität von Oxford, zögert, vor diesem Meilenstein über das Schicksal des Impfstoffs zu spekulieren.

“Vorhersagen während dieser Pandemie waren selten rentabel”, warnte sie.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff trug zur Berichterstattung bei.

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Health

Vaccinated individuals who had Covid might have extra safety in opposition to variants

Vaccinated people who had Covid may have more protection against variants

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press conference at the White House in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on January 21, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

People who had Covid-19 and were later vaccinated may have more protection from highly contagious variants, said White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Wednesday.

Fauci cited a study published in late April that found that people with previous coronavirus infections had better immune responses to B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first used in the UK and the South, after a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine identified variants of Africa compared to those that did not have Covid.

He cited an additional study published online that has not yet been peer-reviewed. It found that people with previous infections who were later fortified with two doses of an mRNA vaccine had “increased protection” against variants.

The studies provide more evidence of the benefits of vaccination, Fauci said.

“Vaccines are very effective,” Fauci said during a Covid briefing at the White House. “You are better than the response you get from a natural infection.”

His comments stem from the Biden government’s drive to partially vaccinate 70% of adults in the United States and 160 million adults fully by July 4th. This is a date the government hopes will mark a turning point in the pandemic.

Over the past few weeks, the pace of people getting their first doses of vaccine has slowed, despite U.S. health officials say they’re working to improve access to the shots and encourage more reluctant Americans to get vaccinated.

Earlier Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report forecasting Covid-19 cases to rise through May before falling sharply into July as vaccinations reduce infections.

Highly contagious variants, namely the highly contagious B.1.1.7 identified for the first time in Great Britain, remain a wild card, according to US health authorities. They urge Americans to get vaccinated and take safety measures against pandemics.

“We are seeing that our current vaccines protect against the pollutants circulating in the country. Put simply, the sooner more people are vaccinated, the sooner we will all get back to normal,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during the press conference.

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Health

Singapore’s Covid scenario might begin to enhance in weeks: Professor

Singapore's Covid situation may start to improve in weeks: Professor

SINGAPORE – Singapore is facing the largest local outbreak of Covid-19 infection in months. However, according to Dale Fisher, chairman of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, the situation could improve in the coming weeks.

“We believe we can break the transmission chains,” he told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Wednesday.

“With quite a sophisticated and thorough contact tracing, along with quarantining the contacts and isolating the cases, I would have confidence that the situation will improve in the next few weeks,” said Fisher, who is also a professor at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore.

Singapore’s new cases in the community rose from 11 the week before to 64 in the past week, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.

The country’s multi-ministry task force announced Tuesday that stricter restrictions would be in place from May 8-30. The Straits Times index fell 1.04% on Wednesday afternoon.

Variants in the community

Authorities also said the “double mutant” variant of Covid – first detected in India – was found among locally transmitted cases. This B.1.617 strain is believed in part to be to blame for India’s rising caseload, which has marginalized its healthcare system as hospitals run out of beds and oxygen.

Fisher said it was difficult to determine how much of an impact each variant can have on how the virus is transmitted.

While there is “good evidence” that many variants “increased portability”, this is not the only factor.

“It’s also about all of the different measures that are in place and actually those measures work. It’s just … this version of the virus is less forgiving of violations,” he said.

It’s about shutting down clusters, stopping transmission chains and living with (the virus) instead of having a … blunt shutdown.

Dale Fisher

Professor at the National University of Singapore.

He noted that some cases were confirmed after the 14-day quarantine was completed. Singapore has extended the quarantine period for travelers from higher risk countries to 21 days.

However, it’s not clear whether the incubation period is longer for variants of the virus, said Fisher, who added that there may also be false negative Covid test results – meaning that a person is actually sick with the disease but the test does indicate that she is not infected.

“Trust” in Singapore

Still, he said he has “a lot of confidence” in Singapore’s systems and believes the country is taking the right approach by not going into lockdown.

“It’s about shutting down clusters, stopping chains of transmission and living with (the virus) instead of having a … blunt shutdown,” he said. “We are aware of the social and economic consequences.”

On vaccinations, Fisher said Singapore likely leads the rest of Asia in terms of the proportion of its population that received at least one shot. “I think we’re getting there steadily,” he said. “Very high levels of nationwide vaccination are expected by October.”

As of April 18, more than 2.2 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in Singapore, the ministry said. The country reported 16 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 61,268.