Latest news with #SriparnaRoy
Japan Today
6 days ago
- Health
- Japan Today
Global childhood vaccination shows slight improvement but challenges remain
A little girl reacts after receiving an oral vaccine during a vaccination drive for diphtheria, influenza, tetanus and pneumococcus in Lima, Peru November 7, 2020. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda/File Photo By Sriparna Roy A million more children completed the critical three-dose vaccination against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to new data released by the World Health Organization. Despite the progress, drastic changes in funding, growing global conflicts, and rising vaccine misinformation threaten to further stall or even reverse progress which poses a threat. "We've hit this very stubborn glass ceiling, and breaking through that glass to protect more children against vaccine-preventable diseases is becoming more difficult," WHO's director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Kate O'Brien, told reporters. In 2024, 89% of infants globally, about 115 million, received at least one dose of the DTP vaccine, and roughly 109 million completed all three doses of the staple shot that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, also known as whooping cough, according to the new national immunization coverage data released on Tuesday by the WHO and UNICEF. But, nearly 20 million infants missed at least one dose of DTP-containing vaccine, which includes 14.3 million "zero-dose" children who never received a single dose of any vaccine. This is 4 million more than the target for the year needed to stay on track with Immunization Agenda 2030 goals, the report added. The world is currently off track for the goal, which has been to halve the number of zero-dose children and achieve at least 90% global immunization coverage. Data shows a quarter of the world's infants live in just 26 countries affected by fragility, conflict, or humanitarian crises, yet make up half of all unvaccinated children globally. In half of these countries the number of unvaccinated children has expanded rapidly from 3.6 million in 2019 to 5.4 million in 2024. "We're starting to see the emerging signs of slippage, and in other countries, stalling of vaccine coverage," said O'Brien. Despite the challenges, countries have been able to scale up vaccines for diseases such as HPV, meningitis, pneumococcal disease, polio, and rotavirus. In 2024, 31% of eligible adolescent girls globally received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. While this is far from the 90% coverage target by 2030, it represents a substantial increase from the 17% coverage in 2019. Global coverage against measles also improved, but the overall coverage rate is far below the 95% needed in every community to prevent outbreaks. "The good news is that we have managed to reach more children with life-saving vaccines. But millions of children remain without protection against preventable diseases, and that should worry us all," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US pharma bets big on China to snap up potential blockbuster drugs
By Sriparna Roy and Sneha S K (Reuters) -U.S. drugmakers are licensing molecules from China for potential new medicines at an accelerating pace, according to new data, betting they can turn upfront payments of as little as $80 million into multibillion-dollar treatments. Through June, U.S. drugmakers have signed 14 deals potentially worth $18.3 billion to license drugs from China-based companies. That compares with just two such deals in the year-earlier period, according to data from GlobalData provided exclusively to Reuters. That increased pace is expected to continue as U.S. drugmakers look to rebuild pipelines of future products to replace $200 billion worth of medicines that will lose patent protection by the end of the decade, analysts, investors, a banker and a drug company executive told Reuters. "They are finding very high-quality assets coming out of China and at prices that are much more affordable relative to perhaps the equivalent type of product that they might find in the United States," said Mizuho analyst Graig Suvannavejh. The total cost of licensing agreements, including low upfront payments and subsequent larger payouts, averaged $84.8 billion in the U.S., compared with $31.3 billion in China over the past five years, according to GlobalData. A licensing agreement grants a company the rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize another company's pharmaceutical products or technologies in exchange for future target-based, or "milestone", payments while mitigating development risks. China's share of global drug development is now nearly 30%, while the U.S. share of the world's research and development has slipped 1% to about 48%, according to pharmaceutical data provider Citeline's report in March. Chinese companies have licensed experimental drugs to U.S. drugmakers that could be used for obesity, heart disease and cancer, reflecting abundant Chinese government investment in pharmaceutical and biotech research and development. While small molecules, like oral drugs, have been the most commonly licensed, there has been a notable shift toward novel treatments such as targeted cancer therapies and first-in-class medicines, Jefferies analysts said in a note in May. "Chinese biotechs are moving up the value chain by the day. They are... challenging their Western peers," said Macquarie Capital analyst Tony Ren. The growth is happening even as the U.S. and China have wrangled over tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump pushes a made in America agenda. That has cut into traditional mergers and acquisitions, which are down 20%, with only 50 such transactions so far this year, according to data from database. Roughly a third of the assets that large pharmaceutical companies licensed in 2024 were from China, said Brian Gleason, head of biotech investment banking at Raymond James, who estimated such licensing deals would increase to between 40% and 50%. "I think it's only accelerating," Gleason said. The Trump administration is currently doing a national security investigation as it weighs if it will impose tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector. But one healthcare analyst said licensing deals should continue because the yet to be marketed products are not impacted by tariffs. "The law that gives the president the right to impose tariffs applies to goods. It explicitly excludes intellectual property," said Tim Opler, managing director in Stifel's global healthcare group. In May, Pfizer spent $1.25 billion upfront for the right to license an experimental cancer drug from China's 3SBio. That is the largest such deal this year and could be worth up to $6 billion in payments to 3SBio if the drug is successful. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in June paid $80 million upfront in a potential $2 billion deal for an experimental obesity drug from China's Hansoh Pharmaceuticals. 'WAKEUP CALL' By licensing a drug in development, U.S. and European drugmakers get very quick access to a molecule which would take them longer and cost more to discover or design themselves, analysts say. U.S.-based drug developer Nuvation Bio bought AnHeart Therapeutics in 2024, gaining access to the China-based company's experimental cancer drug taletrectinib, which received U.S. approval last week. "We consider our presence in China not only a great avenue for R&D, but we also view it as an inside track on obtaining further assets to grow our company further and find new and better therapies to offer patients," Nuvation CEO David Hung told Reuters. What makes China attractive, said EY analyst Arda Ural, "a fraction of the cost and then multiples of time." Analysts have pointed to large drugmakers strategically securing rights to drugs at lower cost and running efficient early-stage trials in China to obtain important data, paving the way for global trials and potential earlier market entry. "It's a little bit of a wakeup call to our industry," said Chen Yu, Managing Partner at U.S.-based healthcare investment firm TCGX.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US pharma bets big on China to snap up potential blockbuster drugs
By Sriparna Roy and Sneha S K (Reuters) -U.S. drugmakers are licensing molecules from China for potential new medicines at an accelerating pace, according to new data, betting they can turn upfront payments of as little as $80 million into multibillion-dollar treatments. Through June, U.S. drugmakers have signed 14 deals potentially worth $18.3 billion to license drugs from China-based companies. That compares with just two such deals in the year-earlier period, according to data from GlobalData provided exclusively to Reuters. That increased pace is expected to continue as U.S. drugmakers look to rebuild pipelines of future products to replace $200 billion worth of medicines that will lose patent protection by the end of the decade, analysts, investors, a banker and a drug company executive told Reuters. "They are finding very high-quality assets coming out of China and at prices that are much more affordable relative to perhaps the equivalent type of product that they might find in the United States," said Mizuho analyst Graig Suvannavejh. The total cost of licensing agreements, including low upfront payments and subsequent larger payouts, averaged $84.8 billion in the U.S., compared with $31.3 billion in China over the past five years, according to GlobalData. A licensing agreement grants a company the rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize another company's pharmaceutical products or technologies in exchange for future target-based, or "milestone", payments while mitigating development risks. China's share of global drug development is now nearly 30%, while the U.S. share of the world's research and development has slipped 1% to about 48%, according to pharmaceutical data provider Citeline's report in March. Chinese companies have licensed experimental drugs to U.S. drugmakers that could be used for obesity, heart disease and cancer, reflecting abundant Chinese government investment in pharmaceutical and biotech research and development. While small molecules, like oral drugs, have been the most commonly licensed, there has been a notable shift toward novel treatments such as targeted cancer therapies and first-in-class medicines, Jefferies analysts said in a note in May. "Chinese biotechs are moving up the value chain by the day. They are... challenging their Western peers," said Macquarie Capital analyst Tony Ren. The growth is happening even as the U.S. and China have wrangled over tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump pushes a made in America agenda. That has cut into traditional mergers and acquisitions, which are down 20%, with only 50 such transactions so far this year, according to data from database. Roughly a third of the assets that large pharmaceutical companies licensed in 2024 were from China, said Brian Gleason, head of biotech investment banking at Raymond James, who estimated such licensing deals would increase to between 40% and 50%. "I think it's only accelerating," Gleason said. The Trump administration is currently doing a national security investigation as it weighs if it will impose tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector. But one healthcare analyst said licensing deals should continue because the yet to be marketed products are not impacted by tariffs. "The law that gives the president the right to impose tariffs applies to goods. It explicitly excludes intellectual property," said Tim Opler, managing director in Stifel's global healthcare group. In May, Pfizer spent $1.25 billion upfront for the right to license an experimental cancer drug from China's 3SBio. That is the largest such deal this year and could be worth up to $6 billion in payments to 3SBio if the drug is successful. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in June paid $80 million upfront in a potential $2 billion deal for an experimental obesity drug from China's Hansoh Pharmaceuticals. 'WAKEUP CALL' By licensing a drug in development, U.S. and European drugmakers get very quick access to a molecule which would take them longer and cost more to discover or design themselves, analysts say. U.S.-based drug developer Nuvation Bio bought AnHeart Therapeutics in 2024, gaining access to the China-based company's experimental cancer drug taletrectinib, which received U.S. approval last week. "We consider our presence in China not only a great avenue for R&D, but we also view it as an inside track on obtaining further assets to grow our company further and find new and better therapies to offer patients," Nuvation CEO David Hung told Reuters. What makes China attractive, said EY analyst Arda Ural, "a fraction of the cost and then multiples of time." Analysts have pointed to large drugmakers strategically securing rights to drugs at lower cost and running efficient early-stage trials in China to obtain important data, paving the way for global trials and potential earlier market entry. "It's a little bit of a wakeup call to our industry," said Chen Yu, Managing Partner at U.S.-based healthcare investment firm TCGX.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vaccine stocks muted as Wall Street takes 'wait and watch' approach after Kennedy's shake-up
By Sriparna Roy and Bhanvi Satija (Reuters) -Shares of global vaccine makers were muted on Tuesday as investors and analysts took a "wait and watch" approach after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all members of an expert vaccine panel late on Monday. Shares of AstraZeneca and BioNTech were marginally up, while those of GSK and Sanofi declined 1% and 0.2%, respectively. U.S. vaccine maker Moderna fell slightly in premarket trading, while Novavax and Pfizer traded marginally said that while the unprecedented dismissals of all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) represented a risk for vaccine manufacturers, investors would wait to see any impact on the companies. Since he was appointed as U.S. health secretary, Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has made several changes to reshape the regulation of vaccines, food and medicine. However, firing members of the ACIP remains his most far-reaching move yet. Some analysts expressed concerns that the new committee members, who have not been named, might be more sympathetic to Kennedy's views on vaccines, an idea shared by scientific experts and doctors. While the makeup of a reconstituted ACIP is to be determined, "new members will likely be sympathetic to at least some of RFK's beliefs regarding alleged dangers of vaccines", Leerink analyst Daina Graybosch said in a note. Graybosch said that the move could negatively impact approved vaccine recommendations and increase the burden of evidence and costs for future vaccine development. Kennedy's decision came less than three weeks before the next panel meeting set for June 25 to June 27 and is slated to discuss recommendations for who should receive vaccines for diseases like respiratory syncytial virus. It is unclear when Kennedy will announce the new members, who the agency said are under consideration, or whether the agenda will follow the meeting description posted on the Federal Register on Monday. "It's hard to assess what the ultimate impact may be on vaccine makers as we don't have much clarity on who will take these members' places on the Committee," said James Harlow, senior vice president at Novare Capital Management, which owns Pfizer shares. Harlow added that sentiment around vaccine makers has been negative coming into the news. "It would appear much has already been baked into the prices of these stocks," he said. BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said that RFK Jr.'s views have consistently skewed negatively to groups like ACIP, making the decision "less shocking in our eyes." Seigerman added that while the announcement introduces additional uncertainty into the sector, it likely represents "more headline risk than a true fundamental change at the agency." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Regeneron shares slide on mixed trial data for smoker's lung drug
By Sriparna Roy (Reuters) -Regeneron shares fell nearly 18% on Friday after its experimental drug for patients with a type of lung condition commonly called "smoker's lung" failed a late-stage trial, although it succeeded in another. Regeneron and partner Sanofi were studying the drug, which some analysts expect could bring in peak sales of as much as $5 billion, for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Investors had pinned their hopes on the drug, itepekimab, which targets a broader population, to potentially drive growth beyond Regeneron and Sanofi's blockbuster Dupixent, which is also approved for the condition, as its patent expiry looms. "Today's update likely represents a 2-3 year delay to market," said J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott for Regeneron's itepekimab. The drug showed a significant reduction in exacerbations or flare-ups in the condition by 27% compared to placebo at 52 weeks in a 1,127-patient study. But the second study - which had enrolled fewer former smokers compared to the first - did not meet its goal, although a benefit was seen earlier in the trial. "Given the mixed results, the regulatory path is murky," said HSBC analyst Rajesh Kumar. At least four analysts said the companies may need to conduct additional studies for a potential approval for the drug. Shares of Regeneron, which have already fallen 15% this year, were down at $497.01, while U.S.-listed shares of French drugmaker Sanofi fell more than 7% to $48.65 in morning trading. Regeneron's price-to-earnings ratio, a common benchmark for valuing stocks, was 16.15, compared with 13.62 for Gilead and 7.29 for Bristol Myers Squibb. Itepekimab binds to and inhibits interleukin-33, a type of protein that causes inflammation in COPD. The common lung disease causes restricted airflow and breathing problems. It typically affects smokers, but can also be caused by pollutants. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
