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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Last week, the US government announced it would support a proposal to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines. The proposal, first introduced to the World Trade Organization (WTO) last fall by South Africa and India, would cover patents, industrial designs, copyrights, and protection of trade secrets, ultimately making it easier for countries that permit compulsory licensing to allow a manufacturer to export vaccines. In order to pass, the proposal would need support from all WTO members, and the measure is still opposed by a number of high-income countries. Following the US statement, however, several countries announced they are open to discussing the proposal. A decision on whether to grant the waiver is expected next month.An existing, cheap therapy could have potential as a long-acting injectable treatment for COVID-19, according to a recent preclinical study by researchers at the University of Liverpool. The data showed niclosamide, a therapy used to treat tapeworm infestations, to be highly effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in multiple laboratory studies. The researchers formed dispersible solid drug nanoparticle formulations of niclosamide that can be stored as solids, reconstituted with water, and then utilized as a long-acting injectable. The research team is looking to move the therapy into human trials and is working with a contract manufacturing organization toward scale up and clinical manufacturing.The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was 96 percent effective in preventing illness in adolescents aged 12 to 17, according to early data released by the company Thursday. The vaccine was also generally well tolerated, and the majority of adverse events were mild or moderate, according to the statement. The analysis, which came from a study of the vaccine among 3,235 participants in the United States, identified no serious safety concerns. Moderna said it is in discussions with regulators about a potential amendment to expand its regulatory authorization to this younger age group. It is currently authorized for people aged 18 and over in countries where it has been approved.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.Moderna is studying a new version of its COVID-19 vaccine that could be kept refrigerated for up to three months, according to a statement released Thursday. Currently, the vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for one month after being thawed from its frozen storage temperature, which requires ultra cold-chain equipment that is not widely available globally. If authorized, the refrigerator-stable vaccine could increase the number of locations able to vaccinate using Moderna’s shot. The company also announced plans to invest in manufacturing facilities in Switzerland, Spain, and the United States, which would boost its capacity to produce up to 3 billion doses of the mRNA-based vaccine in 2022.The ANTICOV clinical trial has begun recruitment for a new arm of its study that will test a combination of nitazoxanide and ciclesonide to treat patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection. ANTICOV, coordinated by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, is the largest trial in Africa seeking to identify early COVID-19 treatments to prevent progression to severe disease and potentially limit transmission. The study began in September with an adaptive platform design, allowing treatments to be added or removed as new evidence emerges. Nitazoxanide, an antiparasitic, and ciclesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid, are both already commercially available, and if shown to be effective against COVID-19, the treatment combination could be affordable and easy to access and administer.Adults in the United States over the age of 65 who have been fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with the disease than those not vaccinated, according to new data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday. The findings also showed partial vaccination reduced the risk of hospitalization by 64 percent. Based on hospitalization data from two surveillance networks originally established to monitor serious influenza disease, the new evidence represents a real-world evaluation of the two mRNA-based vaccines in the United States. CDC says it is planning additional ongoing efforts to measure COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness to inform future vaccine policy.