Vaccines
The Health and Human Services Secretary said that he will find and eliminate the cause of autism by September, an idea that suggests how little he knows about the condition.
GeoVax was using its HHS contract to develop its next-generation multi-antigen COVID-19 vaccine, which is in Phase IIb development.
Kennedy is planning modifications to the Vaccines Adverse Event Reporting System to identify whether vaccines contribute to an unstated problem. The reporting system is at the heart of the departure of CBER head Peter Marks.
Senators Bill Cassidy and Bernie Sanders asked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to make good on a pledge to appear before the committee regularly. It is not clear if or when the hearing, which was scheduled for Thursday, will take place.
Kennedy, a long-time opponent of vaccines, stated that the MMR vaccine is “the most effective way” to combat the measles outbreak, which has already claimed the lives of two children in the U.S.
The FDA was scheduled to release its decision on Novavax’s updated, protein-based COVID-19 vaccine on April 1, but the agency’s principal deputy commissioner intervened.
Already reeling from years of market chaos, the announced departure of CBER chief Peter Marks sent a ripple across biopharma markets.
The British pharmaceutical giant is working with the U.K. Dementia Research Institute to exploit a “natural randomization” experiment to determine whether 65- and 66-year-olds who received GSK’s shingles vaccine Shingrix have reduced dementia risk.
If confirmed, Susan Monarez will have her work cut out for her, facing a measles outbreak that has already killed two people—the first measles-related deaths in the U.S. since 2015.
After withdrawing its nomination for Dave Weldon last week, the Trump administration is now reportedly considering Texas Republican Michael Burgess to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
PRESS RELEASES