CNBC: U.S. health officials say human trials on coronavirus vaccine to start in 6 weeks “Human trials testing a potential vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus are expected to begin in six weeks, U.S. health officials announced Tuesday…” (Lovelace, 2/25). CNN: The U.S. has started human testing of a drug to…

Devex: Why blended finance hasn’t taken off “Blended finance has been the hot topic in development finance circles for a number of years, but despite the excitement around it, the practice hasn’t taken off. … While there is more familiarity with the concept than there was a few years ago,…

The Hill: U.S. partnering with drugmakers on coronavirus vaccine “The Trump administration is working with two pharmaceutical companies to develop a treatment for the coronavirus. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday said it would provide funding to French drugmaker Sanofi to produce a coronavirus vaccine candidate.…

Pfizer/Upjohn: Leading the Conversation on Noncommunicable Diseases Worldwide: An Evidence-Based Review of Key Research and Strategies to Develop Sustainable Solutions This white paper provides a review of research and strategies to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including descriptions of the global NCD burden, causes of NCDs, global and regional trends, interventions…

Al Jazeera: Pakistan policeman killed in attack targeting polio campaign (Hashim, 2/18). Devex: Top U.S. corporate foundations investing in development (De Vos, 2/14). Devex: Local governments must be empowered to fight climate change, experts say (Smith, 2/14). Reuters: ‘Cancer does not wait’: Children’s medicine shortage stokes anger in Mexico (Jorgic,…

Devex: What to watch in development finance in 2020 “A number of factors, including the growing interest of private capital in sustainable investing and the Sustainable Development Goals, seem poised to push the development finance industry to change this year, experts tell Devex. Growing corporate interest in sustainability investing, a…

Devex: Opinion: We’re not fighting hard enough against the top killer of children Henrietta H. Fore, executive director at UNICEF, and Kevin Watkins, chief executive of Save the Children U.K. (1/30). Foreign Affairs: Democracy Is Good for Your Health — And Vice Versa Thomas J. Bollyky, director of the Global…

Devex: Lab-grown novel coronavirus to speed up detection and response “The growth of novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, in a Melbourne-based laboratory has been described by the scientists behind this development as ‘a piece in the puzzle’ to developing tests and vaccines to combat its rapid spread. … The grown virus…

Wellcome: Race for new antibiotics: future success is hanging by a thread Tim Jinks, head of the Drug-resistant Infections Program at Wellcome, discusses the importance of stepping up investments in antibiotic development, highlighting his recent piece published in The Times and writing, “The world desperately needs new antibiotics — they…

FierceBiotech: GSK hands TB vaccine to Gates Foundation’s nonprofit biotech “GlaxoSmithKline has licensed a tuberculosis vaccine to the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (MRI). The deal sets the stage for a push to build on recent phase 2b data and make the vaccine available in low-income countries where…