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Panacea Biotec Ltd on Thursday said it will supply bivalent oral polio vaccines worth Rs 127.2 crore to the Central Medical Services Society, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In a regulatory filing, Panacea Biotec said the Central Medical Services Society (CMSS) has accepted the company's offer for supply of bivalent oral polio vaccine against the tender issued by it through a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) dated October 8, 2025. "As per the LOA, the company will supply the vaccine worth Rs 127.2 crore in several tranches over a period of 90 - 480 days from the date of issuance of LOA," it added.
The new cancer vaccines are not intended to prevent the onset of cancer in healthy individuals but to stop its recurrence in those already treated, a medical expert said. These are therapeutic cancer vaccines designed to prevent recurrence of the disease in people who already had cancer, not for its prevention in healthy people, said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, convener of the Research Cell, Kerala State IMA, and chairman of the scientific committee, IMA Cochin. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the second annual conference of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Society (GIOS) here on Saturday. Highlighting the evolution of cancer treatment, including the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines, Jayadevan, in a statement, clarified their purpose. These are a form of immunotherapy, specifically individualised neoantigen therapy, which trains the body's own immune system to recognise and eliminate cancer cells, he said. He also spoke of the modern challenge of information overload a
A regulator has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia infections, which are causing infertility and death in the iconic native species that is listed as endangered in parts of Australia. The single-dose vaccine was developed by the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland state after more than a decade of research led by professor of microbiology Peter Timms. The research showed the vaccine reduced the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms of chlamydia during breeding age and decreased mortality from the disease in wild populations by at least 65%. The recent approval by Australia's veterinary medicine regulator means the vaccine can now be used in wildlife hospitals, veterinary clinics and in the field to protect the nation's most at-risk koalas, Timms said on Wednesday. We knew a single-dose vaccine with no need for a booster was the answer to reducing the rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which accounts for as much as half of koala .
Mankind Pharma on Monday said it has received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial for a molecule under development for the treatment of multiple autoimmune disorders. The molecule is being developed for the treatment of multiple autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, and alopecia. Developed at the Mankind Research Centre, MKP11093 has shown strong results in preclinical studies with a promising safety and selectivity profile, the drug firm said in a statement. Arjun Juneja, Chief Operating Officer, Mankind Pharma, said the development of MKP11093 is a major milestone representing the company's endeavour to deliver a best-in-class JAK inhibitor that maximises therapeutic potential while addressing the safety concerns associated with conventional approaches. The Phase 1 trial is expected to begin shortly and will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and ...
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing on Thursday, tried to defend his efforts to pull back Covid-19 vaccine recommendations and explain the turmoil he has created at federal health agencies. Kennedy said the fired CDC director was untrustworthy, stood by his past anti-vaccine rhetoric, and disputed reports of people saying they have had difficulty getting Covid-19 shots. A longtime leader in the anti-vaccine movement, Kennedy has made sweeping changes to agencies tasked with public health policy and scientific research by laying off thousands of workers, firing science advisers and remaking vaccine guidelines. The moves -- some of which contradict assurances he made during his confirmation hearings -- have rattled medical groups and officials in several Democratic-led states, which have responded with their own vaccine advice. Medical groups and several Democrats in Congress have called for
More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year about the same number as the year before according to UN health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children. In their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89 per cent of children under one year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2023. About 85 per cent completed the three-dose series, up from 84 per cent in 2023. Officials acknowledged, however, that the collapse of international aid this year will make it more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children. In January, US President Trump withdrew the country from the WHO, froze nearly all humanitarian aid and later moved to close the US AID Agency. And last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was pulling the billions of dollars the US had previously ...