Coronavirus Breaking News

Moderna, Inc. and OpenAI today announced their ongoing collaboration to co-innovate with a shared vision of AI's transformative potential in the future of business and healthcare.

Moderna is a digital-first company that has leveraged the power of machine learning since its beginnings.

This strong data foundation and its robust learning culture position the Company to responsibly and seamlessly integrate generative AI into its operations and capitalize on next-generation AI innovation.

The organizations began their collaboration in early 2023 by launching Moderna's instance of ChatGPT, called mChat, internally built on top of OpenAI's API.

With more than 80% internal adoption since its debut, this initial success accelerated an AI culture that led to the deployment of ChatGPT Enterprise and its enhanced capabilities such as Advanced Analytics, Image Generation and GPTs.

These GPTs are now embedded across Moderna's business functions - from legal, to research, to manufacturing, to commercial - and are purpose-built as assistants that work beside Moderna's employees, augmenting their roles through personalized support.

With these tools serving as an extension to Moderna's team, the Company can advance its mission to deliver the greatest possible impact to people through mRNA medicines.

Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, commented in a press release on April 24, 2024, "Moderna has an ambitious plan to launch multiple products over the next few years, and collaborations with companies like OpenAI are critical to our ability to scale and maximize our impact on patients."

Since the first dengue-like epidemic was suspected in 1635 in the Caribbean Islands, this mosquito-transmitted disease has impacted the health of millions of people throughout the Region of the Americas.

According to new data, the year 2024 may set an all-time record. 

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently issued Situation Report No. 14 confirming that 4,820,955 suspected cases of Dengue (an increase
of 260% from 2023) and 1,733 deaths have been registered as of mid-April 2024.

As of April 23, 2024, Brazil has reported the most Dengue cases this year.

To alert international travelers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reissued its Level 1 Travel Health Advisory for the Americas on April 18, 2024. The countries listed have reported higher-than-usual dengue cases.

The CDC says travelers to these Caribbean, Central, and South American countries may be at increased risk.

Within the U.S., the CDC reported that 37 jurisdictions have reported 929 dengue cases as of April 2024.

The unfortunate leader is Puerto Rico, which has 644 dengue cases, followed by the state of Florida, which has 106 travel-associated cases and five locally acquired dengue cases this year.

From a prevention perspective, two dengue vaccines have been approved. To learn about vaccination options, the CDC says travelers should speak with a vaccine advisor at least one month before traveling abroad.

As of April 23, 2024, travel vaccines are offered at specialty clinics and certified pharmacies in the U.S.

The Florida Department of Health published Arbovirus Surveillance Update #15, which discloses various mosquito-borne diseases reported this year.

As of April 13, 2024, countries in southern Florida confirmed these mosquito-transmitted diseases:

• Chikungunya - Three cases of chikungunya that began in 2024 have been reported in individuals with a travel history to Brazil, and four cases were confirmed in 2023.
• Dengue Fever - In 2024, 106 travel-associated dengue cases have been reported, mainly by visitors from Cuba. In 2023, 609 travel-associated dengue cases were reported, primarily in people arriving from Brazil and Cuba. Five cases of locally acquired dengue were reported from Miami-Dade (4) and Pasco counties in 2024. 
• Malaria - In 2024, nineteen cases of malaria with onset in 2024 have been reported in individuals with a travel history to malaria-endemic areas in Africa. In 2023, 78 malaria cases were reported.

To learn where these diseases are spreading, the U.S. CDC issued Travel Health Notices to inform travelers about global health risks.

While the U.S. FDA recently approved an innovative chikungunya vaccine, its availability in Florida is pending. Access to the approved dengue vaccine has specific requirements.

Furthermore, two approved malaria vaccines are unavailable in the U.S.

Visit a local travel clinic, such as Passport Health USA Tampa, to learn more about these and other travel vaccine options.

Although antiretroviral treatment (ART) can help manage the impact of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), it is not a cure. People living with HIV need to take the treatment for their entire lives to suppress viral replication and protect their immune systems.

To address this clinical need, ACTG, a global clinical trials network focused on HIV and other infectious diseases, today announced the opening of A5374, a phase 1/2a study evaluating the safety, tolerability, and antiviral effect of a novel combination regimen that includes therapeutic T-cell vaccines, two broadly neutralizing antibodies (3BNC117-LS, 10-1074-LS), and an immune-system boosting treatment among people living with HIV who started ART during acute HIV infection.

This study hypothesizes that this combination regimen will be safe and result in a more extended period of viral control during a closely monitored pause in ART (known as an analytic treatment interruption) compared to placebo.

The approach being studied in A5374 is part of a potential path toward enabling the immune system to manage HIV in the absence of ART for weeks or months.

“We expect that controlling HIV in the absence of ART will require a combination of novel treatments to decrease the number of cells harboring HIV and simultaneously stimulate the immune system to keep the virus from replicating,” said ACTG Chair Judith Currier, M.D., M.Sc., University of California Los Angeles in a press release.

“A5374 is a pivotal trial, and we hope it will provide us with important insights into how to boost the immune system to control HIV.”

ACTG says carefully monitored analytic treatment interruptions are an essential part of HIV cure clinical trials. They can help determine whether a research intervention can reduce latent HIV (HIV that is “hidden” in different cells and tissues but not replicating) or increase immune function and delay or prevent latent HIV from actively replicating.

While there are no U.S. FDA-approved HIV prevention vaccines today, clinical development accelerated in 2023, with vaccine candidates utilizing innovative technologies such as mRNA.

According to the recent Nationally Notifiable Infectious Diseases and Conditions weekly report, the number of mpox cases in the United States has more than doubled compared to Week #15 in 2023.

As of April 13, 2024, 750 mpox cases had been reported, compared to 336 cases at the same time last year.

The U.S. CDC highlights New York City (151), California (72), and Texas (55) as mpox case leaders.

The U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) was initially charged with coordinating the federal response to the mpox outbreak. According to the General Accountability report issued on April 18, 2024, HHS is recommended to adopt a coordinated, department-wide program that incorporates input from external stakeholders to identify and resolve challenges.

In the United States, Bavarian Nordic's JYNNEOS® vaccine was initially offered to healthcare staff in Boston on May 24, 2022.

Since then, over 1.2 million (1-dose: 38.8% and 2-dose: 24.3%) JYNNEOS doses have been administered in U.S. Jurisdictions. 

As of April 2024, JYNNEOS remains the only FDA-approved non-replicating smallpox and mpox vaccine for military and non-military use and has recently become commercially available at U.S. pharmacies.

Various media sources reported Merck would only supply 18.8 million HPV vaccine doses to Gavi-supported countries in 2024. Merck had previously promised to supply 29.6 million doses.

According to the Peoples Gazette, on April 19, 2024, Merck spokesman Patrick Ryan said the company "experienced a manufacturing disruption," requiring it to hold and check numerous doses manually.

Ryan disclosed that Burundi, Tajikistan, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso will not receive HPV vaccines in 2024.

By the end of 2022, 32 countries had successfully launched their HPV vaccine national program with Gavi support, fully immunizing more than 16.3 million girls since 2014.

GAVI says HPV vaccination is critical to reducing cervical cancer, especially in lower-income countries with a high disease burden and less developed cervical cancer screening and treatment programs.

On March 13, 2024, Merck announced plans to initiate clinical development of a new investigational multi-valent HPV vaccine designed to provide broader protection against multiple HPV types.

Separately, the company also plans to conduct clinical trials in both females and males to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a single-dose regimen of the GARDASIL®9 vaccine compared to the approved three-dose regimen.

"Evidence continues to emerge showing the importance of GARDASIL and GARDASIL 9 to public health," said Dr. Eliav Barr, senior vice president, head of global clinical development, and chief medical officer, Merck Research Laboratories, in a press release.

"These significant investments build upon our leadership and, importantly, provide the opportunity to further impact the global burden of certain HPV-related cancers and diseases."

The latest addition to Merck's pipeline employs the company's proprietary virus-like particle (VLP) technology to incorporate additional VLPs for expanded HPV-type coverage.

This includes several types known to have a greater impact on African and Asian populations and individuals of African and Asian descent. First-in-human phase 1 clinical studies are scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In the U.S., HPV vaccines remain available at clinics and pharmacies in 2024.