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An international agreement that may reach $1.4 billion in value may disrupt the COVID-19 and influenza vaccine industry.
As part of Sanofi's commitment to developing a diverse portfolio of best-in-class vaccines, the company announced today it has entered into a co-exclusive licensing agreement with Novavax Inc., a global leader in protein-based, non-mRNA, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccines.

Takeda, a Japanese company, announced its financial results today. The Company's press release confirmed that its second-generation dengue vaccine QDENGA® (TAK-003) remains unavailable in the United States.
In July 2023, Takeda announced that it voluntarily withdrew the Biologics License Application for TAK-003, following discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on aspects of data collection that could not be addressed within the current review cycle.

While rabies was officially eliminated in dogs in the United States in 2007, unvaccinated canines can still contract the deadly disease from rabid wildlife, including bats.
If you plan on bringing a dog into the U.S. this summer, new rules from the government may impact your plans.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on May 8, 2024, new dog importation rules will be implemented in August 2024.

Since the start of 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received ten reports of Plasmodium vivax malaria cases treated in Los Angeles, California.
This uptick in LA was not forecasted, as only 2 cases of P. vivax were reported from 2016 to 2022.
The CDC revealed on May 6, 2024, that these individuals had probably traveled from Panama's Darién Gap through Central America and Mexico before arriving in LA.

Over the past two years, malaria has become a vaccine-preventable disease thanks to the approval of two innovative vaccines. 
The World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends that children in certain areas receive four doses of GSK's Mosquirix™ (RTS,S/AS01) malaria vaccine, the world's first approved malaria vaccine.
As of May 2024, Mosquirix is available in African countries but not in the United States.

Unlike conventional vaccines that include a single antigen to train the immune system to target a specific virus, scientists say they have created a vaccine that protects against various coronaviruses, including potential future variants. 
This 'Proactive Vaccinology' may protect people against a diverse range of existing coronaviruses or newly emerging pathogens.

While the standard Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (sBCG) vaccine has been in use for about 100 years and administered over 4 billion times, its clinical efficacy is debatable.
On May 2, 2024, the Serum Institute of India (SII) confirmed that it is developing a new recombinant BCG vaccine (iBCG) to enhance efficacy and address the current supply shortages.
Founded in 1966, SII, the world's largest vaccine producer, has implemented two gene modifications to improve sBCG's immunogenicity and safety, creating iBCG.

Although the Zika virus (ZIKV) has been known since 2007, outbreaks have not been in the news much in 2024.
Since the confirmation of a ZIKV outbreak in Brazil in March 2015, many countries in the Region of the Americas have been affected.
According to the data dashboard of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as of May 3, 2024, over 6,878 Zika cases have been reported in the Americas this year.
While this number of cases is still alarming, it is fewer than the 55,813 cases reported in 2023.

The City of Long Beach recently issued an official statement regarding a Tuberculosis (TB) outbreak.
On May 2, 2024, City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis declared a local public health emergency to strengthen the City's preparedness and ability to respond to a localized TB outbreak.
Several individuals associated with a single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel in Long Beach have recently been identified with TB disease.