Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democrats, Worried About Pricing, Beseech Army Not To Grant Exclusive Deal For Zika Vaccine
Stat: Lawmakers Urge US Army Not To Issue Exclusive License To Sanofi For A Zika Vaccine
Nearly a dozen members of Congress are urging the US Army not to issue an exclusive license to Sanofi Pasteur to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus over concerns the product may be priced too high for many Americans, even though it was developed with taxpayer funds. “In order to ensure that the investment made by taxpayers was worthwhile, it is critical that we ensure the vaccine to prevent against the Zika virus is accessible to anyone who requires it,” the lawmakers wrote on Wednesday in a letter to Robert Speer, the Acting Secretary of the Army. (Silverman, 2/22)
Kaiser Health News: Sprint To Find Zika Vaccine Could Hinge On Summer Outbreaks
As warmer temperatures herald the arrival of pesky mosquitoes, researchers are feverishly working on several promising vaccines against Zika, a virus notorious for infecting humans through this insect’s bite. The speed and debilitating effects of last year’s Zika outbreak in the Western Hemisphere prompted a sprint to develop a vaccine. Just a little more than a year after the pandemic was declared a global health emergency, a handful of candidates are undergoing preliminary testing in humans." (Heredia Rodriguez, 2/23)
