President Joe Biden today plans to sign an executive order for a comprehensive review of U.S. supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and other products. The order includes an immediate 100-day review across federal agencies to address vulnerabilities in the supply chains related to APIs and three other key products — critical minerals, semiconductors…
White House could promise states additional COVID-19 vaccines doses next week
Federal shipments of COVID-19 vaccines could increase roughly 16% next week, potentially reducing some states’ shortfalls as they have broadened access to adults 65 and older. The U.S. government plans to increase its weekly allocation to states from 8.6 million doses to approximately 10 million doses. COVID-19 czar Jeff Zients, informed governors on Tuesday afternoon…
7 core strategies in Biden’s battle against COVID-19
Included in President Joe Biden’s sprawling strategy document for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic are an array of plans intended to ramp up vaccination efforts. Also in the plan are proposals for accelerating the development of therapies such as antiviral compounds effective against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses with pandemic potential. The “full-scale, wartime” plans have considerable relevance…
Biden leaning on Defense Production Act to bolster COVID-19 vaccine supplies
President Joe Biden has unveiled a series of anti-COVID-19 measures in his first full day in office, including signing an executive order instructing federal agencies to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) and other tools to speed the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and materials. In total, the president has signed 10 executive orders intended to…
Why continuously monitoring COVID-19 vaccines’ temperature is critical
While vaccine hesitancy will be a barrier in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, the storage requirements for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines will invariably be another significant hurdle. The BNT162b2 vaccine candidate from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) — with its subarctic storage requirements of -70°C — could be especially vexing. Approximately 5% of the vaccine, which Pfizer developed with partner BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), could…
Drug supplies dwindle as COVID-19 crisis continues
COVID-19-related drugs are in short supply in the U.S., according to a recent report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. Supplies are scarce for nearly three-quarters (72.5% or 29 of 40) of COVID-19 drugs, according to the CIDRAP report, which cites data from the American Society…
COVID-19 vaccines could heighten theft risk in pharma supply chain
Professional thieves have long looted valuable medicines. Now, drugmakers and their partners are aiming to protect COVID-19 vaccines from theft. Pharma companies are using fake shipments and GPS software to plot bogus shipments to throw off thieves. Meanwhile, glassmakers like Corning are incorporating black-light verification to battle counterfeiting, according to The Wall Street Journal. Hospitals…