Borgen Magazine: Four Companies in Developing Countries Contributing to the SDGs (Cade, 12/17). Devex: Q&A: The need for more early stage investment in RMNCAH solutions (12/18). Devex: Q&A: The value of the private sector in health system strengthening (12/18). Devex: If COVID-19 changes finance, will that help development funding? (Saldinger,…

Financial Times: Moderna Covid vaccine set to receive U.S. approval “The U.S. drugs regulator will grant emergency approval to a second coronavirus vaccine in the coming days, a decision that will make it the first country to have authorized two inoculations against the virus…” (Stacey/Kuchler, 12/17). NBC News: FDA advisers…

STAT: One-quarter of the world may not get a Covid-19 vaccine until 2022, experts warn “As wealthy governments race to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines, nearly a quarter of the world’s population — mostly in low- and middle-income countries — will not have access to a shot until 2022,…

The Hill: FDA says Pfizer vaccine supply is up to 40 percent higher than previously thought as vials hold multiple doses “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday said that health officials may be able to obtain as many as seven doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine from vials initially…

AFP/YouTube: Virus hunters delve into Gabon forest in search for next threat | AFP (12/16). Devex: Q&A: The woman tasked with bringing gender to the center of the Gates Foundation (Cheney, 12/17). Devex: Q&A: Addressing polio through a gender lens (12/17). Devex: How a new data portal aims to accelerate…

New York Times: Don’t Fall for Big Pharma’s Savior Act Stephen Buranyi, science journalist and visiting lecturer at the European Business School (12/17). Scientific American: How to Expand Access to COVID Vaccines without Compromising the Science Peter Doshi, associate professor of pharmaceutical health services research at the University of Maryland…

Financial Times: BioNTech set to become first foreign jab to enter China market “BioNTech will supply 100m doses of its coronavirus vaccine to Chinese partner Fosun Pharma for use in mainland China next year in the country’s first publicly announced order of a foreign jab against the disease…” (Shepherd, 12/16).…

Quartz: Has Covid-19 permanently altered the development timetable for other vaccines? “Creating vaccines, experts were careful to remind us at the beginning of the pandemic, takes time. It took two decades for researchers to develop a vaccine for polio, in 1953, and even longer to get a chickenpox vaccine, in…

The Hill: FDA endorses safety and efficacy of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine “A coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Moderna is on the verge of authorization after Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists found it to be safe and 94 percent effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19. The evidence will be discussed…

Reuters: Sanofi renews deal with WHO to fight tropical diseases, sleeping sickness “French healthcare company Sanofi announced on Tuesday a renewal of its partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight neglected tropical diseases and to eliminate sleeping sickness before 2030. Sanofi said its new five-year commitment with the…