Executive Summary
The Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (KAPI) is a membership organization, established in the late 1960s, representing biopharmaceutical manufacturers (or their local representatives) that through research invent and develop medicines and technologies (e.g., Biopharmaceuticals, Vaccine Healthcare, Medical devices, Diagnostics) that significantly improve people’s lives. KAPI represents the industry voice and promotes efficiency in the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that medical products and healthcare technologies of the highest quality can be readily available for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases.
Weekly Brief:
This is a roundup of news allied to the biopharmaceutical industry with a bearing on our mission to improve access to lifesaving health products and technologies for positive health outcomes.
- World Health Organization (WHO) team of scientists arrived in Wuhan China on Thursday 14th January 2021 in plans to probe the origins of COVID-19. This comes after delays in being granted permission for the visit by the Chinese government. (The Hindu)
- With the global COVID-19 pandemic still soaring, there have been a rise in reports of emergence of new variants of the virus. Some are associated with severe infections or rapid spread as has been noted with the South African and UK variants. Recently Kenya and the US also reported new variants. (Kenya – Nation Media; US – Financial Times)
- German company Baxter Germany set to start the production of BioNTech/Pfizer Vaccine by early March (Reuters)
- African Union (AU) secured an additional 270million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca through the Serum Institute of India, and Johnson & Johnsons. (Reuters; The Presidency)
- AstraZeneca filed for EU vaccine approval with additional information on safety, quality and efficacy. (Medical Express)
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Vir Biotechnology are set to test their monoclonal antibody treatment for on mild to moderate COVID-19 patients within the first quarter of 2021. (Reuters)
- Systems thinking and the application of systems thinking tools to real world problems is critical in the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). (Yale Insights)
- Progress made in the fight against superbug Acinetobacter baumannii through coupling of phages and antibiotics. (newsGP)
- The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa launched the Africa Young Innovators for Health Awards on 11th January 2021. This award seeks to fuel innovation and help advance promising healthcare solutions in the continent. (SciDev Net; Young Innovators for Health Award)