Infectious Disease

This year’s IDWeek (Oct 19-22, 2025) showcased a spectrum of therapeutics to protect against and treat Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection across vulnerable populations: infants, older adults, and the immunocompromised. Once dominated by seasonal hospital surges and limited preventive options, RSV management is entering a new era characterized by durable vaccination strategies, next-generation monoclonal antibodies,…

The pharmaceutical blockbuster model is wobbling. And no single franchise is safe. While king Keytruda, Merck’s stalwart oncology drug, continues to rule the first half of 2025 with $15.2B in sales (Q1 $7.2B, Q2 $8.0B), its U.S. patent expiry in 2028 the single biggest loss of exclusivity event on the horizon. In the U.S., Medicare…

Despite some vocal attacks against vaccines, a poll conducted by Republican pollsters — including Donald Trump’s chief pollster — shows “that there is broad unity across party lines supporting vaccines such as measles (MMR), shingles, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (TDAP), and Hepatitis B.” NBC News reported that the poll results were made known to Republican…

COVID-19’s grip may have loosened, but its effects on pregnancies linger in data showing higher preterm birth risks for infected mothers. A new analysis from Panalgo, a Norstella company, presented at ICPE 2025, used linked U.S. claims data to match COVID-positive pregnant women against controls. The data revealed a statistically significant increase in preterm deliveries;…

Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, the Florida surgeon general, announced at an event on Wednesday that the Department of Health, working with the governor, would “end all vaccine mandates in Florida law.” He also compared vaccine mandates to slavery. “Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your…

Healthcare is one of the largest sources of “big data,” accounting for upwards of 30% of all data produced globally.1 Early on, the potential benefits of this data for healthcare outcomes were immediately evident. As that promise has begun to materialize, with the advent of AI and machine learning, real signals of improvement in therapeutic…

The one-drug-many-indications model has steadily grown in popularity since the early 2000s. But Irvine, California–headquartered Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is aiming to bring the model to XDEMVY (lotilaner), an antiparasitic drug that first won FDA-approval in dogs. After licensing lotilaner from Elanco, Tarsus won FDA approval for the drug, under the trade name XDEMVY, for the treatment…

History’s deadliest infectious disease has a new adversary. Although many think of tuberculosis as a disease of the past, it still kills 1.2 million people annually. Last month, scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research published a study in Nature, revealing that they had developed a new compound that could be a tuberculosis treatment breakthrough. The…

A study from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health revealed that ivermectin, usually used to treat river blindness and scabies, can reduce malaria transmission. The BOHEMIA trial is the largest study on ivermectin for malaria, and results revealed that the pill reduced malaria by 26%.  As mosquitoes become more resistant to insect repellent and other…

Several leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday, claiming that recent decisions to stop recommending vaccines to pregnant women and children are unscientific and harmful to the public. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The American Public Health Association (APHA), the…

Two weeks ago, Robert F. Kennedy fired all 17 members of the ACIP and quickly appointed eight new members. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Michael Ross withdrew from the committee, leaving the ACIP with seven remaining members. The new advisory committee on immunization practices had its first meeting yesterday. Walking back flu…

Members of the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP) received an email late Monday afternoon terminating their positions, said panel member Dr. Noel Brewer. This decision by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may impact vaccine access, insurance coverage, and public health.  Members of the ACIP typically serve four-year terms.…

The FDA is scaling back COVID-19 booster approvals to high-risk groups. New rules demand randomized trials for healthy under-65s while preserving annual shots for seniors and people with chronic conditions. Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), and FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin A. Makary, called for a more evidenced-based…

A recent study published this week, on April 1, 2025, found that pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection may have a lower risk of developing long COVID compared to non-pregnant women. This finding, detailed in Nature Communications, shed light on pregnancy’s protective effects. The large-scale retrospective study, conducted under the guidance of researchers from Weill Cornell…

In 2024, the World Health Organization added 24 pathogens to its pandemic watchlist, including three that are zoonotic, meaning they spread from animals to humans. The newly added zoonotic diseases include avian influenza, mpox (previously known as monkeypox) and Sin Nombre virus, the latter of which jumps from mice to people and has a 30% fatality rate in…

Typical COVID-19 vaccines present fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the body, enabling the immune system to recognize and develop a defense against the virus. However, emerging variants are increasingly evading this immune response due to mutations in their receptor-binding domain (RBD), threatening the effectiveness of existing vaccines. This challenge has prompted research into…

OraSure Technologies is preparing for the upcoming World AIDS Day Virtual Summit and Celebration of Progress, scheduled for December 5, 2024, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. PST (12:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST). This digital event aligns with the 2024 World AIDS Day theme of “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress” and will bring together…

The FDA has approved Moderna’s and Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 vaccines targeting the KP.2 variant, an offshoot of the Omicron strain that was dominant in the U.S. in May 2024. More recently, KP.3 variants are gaining ground. As of August 20, 2024, CDC Nowcast projections estimate KP.3.1.1 accounts for approximately 37% of new COVID-19 cases in…

Moderna’s mRESVIA (mRNA-1345) has become the first mRNA-based vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to receive FDA approval. The vaccine is indicated for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV infection in adults aged 60 years and older. This milestone marks Moderna’s second FDA-approved product after its COVID-19 vaccine. Earlier this year,…

[Updated May 21, 2024.] 2023 may not go down as the brightest year for the pharma sector, but the entry of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic (semaglutide) into the ranks of top-selling drugs like Keytruda, Dupixent, and Eliquis signals a new era in the treatment of metabolic disease. Novo Nordisk’s sales jumped by more than one-third in…

Is aging a disease or a natural process? That question has emerged as a point of debate among researchers, medical professionals and philosophers. Some, like biogerontologist David Gems, argue that lines between aging and disease are frequently blurry, and that intervening in the aging process “protects against the totality of age-related diseases.” Other researchers such…

The recent emergence of H5N1 avian influenza in humans and many other animals has intensified global efforts to prepare for a potential pandemic. Public health agencies and international organizations are collaborating with pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to develop vaccines, treatments, and strategies to mitigate the impact of an outbreak. The CDC, for instance, has…

Clostridioides difficile, commonly known as C. diff, is a significant health threat in the U.S. Recent estimates suggest that C. diff, a common bacteria, can cause infection in roughly 500,000 patients annually in the U.S., with around 30,000 of these cases resulting in death. “Actually, it’s more like 5 million when you think about it…

Abstract The vast majority of vaccines are prophylactic in nature. As a result, the demonstration of their efficacy paradoxically requires the infectious disease to occur among non-diseased study participants randomized between investigational vaccine and appropriate control groups. The statistics of vaccine efficacy (VE) calculation are nearly entirely and solely based on the number of observed…

Traditionally, the tech and biotech sectors in the U.S. have been concentrated in a handful of regions — most notably in areas such as Boston, Seattle, Silicon Valley and Southern California. But the Biden administration aims to distribute innovation more evenly through the U.S. To that end, the administration has designated 31 tech hubs across…