Iovance Biotherapeutics stock fell 12% as it extended the timeframe of the rolling application submission for its cancer therapy after the Food and Drug Administration requested more data. Iovance now expects to complete the filing in Q1 2023, compared to the prior expectation of Q4. (Seeking Alpha)
Big Pharma may have to reveal government deals in the World Health Organization’s draft pandemic rules. A draft version of the WHO accord, which is being negotiated by the U.N. health agency’s 194 member countries, calls for it to be compulsory for companies to reveal the terms of any public procurement contracts. (Reuters)
With hospitals overwhelmed by RSV, health officials urged caution for holiday gatherings. Hospitals expect to see increases in RSV in the coming months, so officials are asking people to take precautions when they gather this holiday season to prevent the spread of RSV, as well as the flu and COVID-19. (KOMO News)
New Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine is more effective than the original, a new study found. The results complemented earlier data from Pfizer suggesting the new shot is 13 times more effective against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants—the most common versions of the omicron variant—in people over the age of 55. (Forbes)
As a measles outbreak sickens more than a dozen children in Ohio, local health officials seek help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We asked the CDC for assistance and they will be sending two epidemiologists at the end of the month to assist with our local investigation,” Kelli Newman, a spokesperson for Columbus Public Health, said this week. (CNN)
