Vaccines
In a series of memos last week, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad outlined the FDA’s thinking on the recent limited approvals for updated COVID-19 vaccines.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday, ahead of a vaccine advisory committee meeting later in September. Meanwhile, deal-making appetite appears healthy, and the weight loss space continues generating clinical data and other news.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, following the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez and tapping of HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill as her interim replacement.
The American Academy of Pediatrics called the decision to limit children’s access to COVID-19 vaccines “deeply troubling.”
Eli Lilly drops a second Phase III readout for orforglipron; AbbVie committed to the psychedelic therapeutics space with the $1.2 billion acquisition of Gilgamesh’s depression asset; the CDC taps vaccine skeptic Retsef Levi to lead its COVID-19 immunization working group; and the FDA prioritizes overall survival in cancer drug development.
The MIT professor of management, who already sits on the CDC’s revamped immunization advisory committee, is a known skeptic of vaccines, particularly mRNA technology.
The White House has denied reports that the government could soon ban COVID-19 vaccines, noting that in the absence of an official announcement, “any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.”
Earlier this month, the FDA backed off on a pause in shipments of the chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq to older adults. Now, the regulator has reversed course.
Hundreds of HHS Staffers Accuse RFK Jr. of ‘Sowing Public Mistrust’ Against CDC After Shooting at HQ
In an open letter, Health and Human Services employees asked the Secretary to stop and disavow the spread of health misinformation, particularly about vaccines, infectious diseases and federal health agencies.
The CDC no longer recommends COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and healthy pregnant women, a position that has been opposed by leading medical societies.
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