Africa Lenias Hwenda of Medicines for Africa examines the true impact of access to medicine initiatives in Africa, noting that many of the measures takes are often cosmetic and leave a swathe of “impact bottlenecks” unaddressed. Hwenda calls for a more holistic approach, moving beyond simply bringing medicines to African countries…

South Africa Some of the top pharma news coming out of South Africa including Afrigen’s partnership with US National Institutes of Health (NIH), BioNTech’s efforts to bring an mRNA start-to-finish vaccine manufacturing network to Africa and Ascendis Health’s deal with Austell Pharmaceuticals for its pharma division.   Afrigen partners with US National Institutes…

Africa David Mukanga of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gives an overview of the latest developments on the long road towards the creation of an African Medicines Agency and the push to establish vaccine manufacturing facilities on the continent.   Since the minimum number of 15 ratifications by African Union…

South Africa Kelly Chibale, founder of the H3D Centre at the University of Cape Town and chairman & CEO of the H3D Foundation, outlines the rationale behind the establishment of these institutions, the vital importance of health innovation in and for Africa, the potential impact of a new partnership with global pharma…

Africa Medicines for Africa’s Lenias Hwenda highlights the vast gaps in COVID-19 vaccine access globally, especially in Africa where just six percent of the population has been vaccinated. Hwenda argues that the time is now to boost the infrastructure for pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa as a way out of this pandemic,…

Africa Three months after the World Bank announced a EUR 600 million loan to South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare, the African continent has received more good news as it seeks to increase vaccine manufacturing know-how.   BioNTech, the company behind Pfizer’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand name Comirnaty, recently announced…

Africa In a notable first, following successful pilot immunisation programmes in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that the RTS,S malaria vaccine be rolled out across sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission.   Financing for the pilot programme has been…

South Africa A roundup of the latest news from South African pharma, including Aspen’s impressive annual growth, Adcock Ingram’s full year profit drop, and Entos Pharma’s approval for Phase II clinical rials in South Africa for its COVID-19 DNA vaccine candidate. In addition, an African Union envoy says that vaccines made in…

South Africa With Africa struggling to vaccinate its populations against COVID-19, the World Bank – along with government institutions from the USA, Germany, and France – has intervened to loan South African firm Aspen Pharmacare EUR 600 million (USD 712 million) with the aim of increasing vaccine manufacturing know how across the…

South Africa The latest from South African pharma, including President Ramaphosa’s blunt criticism of Big Pharma, Aspen’s reception of USD 700 million in international financial aid, Adcock Ingram’s disappointing results as fewer elective surgeries and doctor visits hit their first half revenue, and the battle to bridge digital divide in COVID-19 vaccination…

South Africa South African firm Aspen has inked a deal with Johnson & Johnson for the technical transfer and proposed commercial manufacture of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2-S, boosting the company’s share price as well as its global profile.   Aspen is best known internationally for bringing generic antiretrovirals for HIV to…

Opinion As COVID-19 threatens to derail more than a decade’s worth of hard-won gains in the fight against malaria, Dr Benjamin Pretorius, managing director at ERADA Technology Alliance, warns that diversions of malaria resources and interruptions to prevention programmes may cost thousands of lives.   Malaria still takes the lives of…