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The
US government on Thursday said it will boost its supply of monkeypox
vaccine by making an additional 1.8 million doses available for ordering
starting August 22.
In a White House briefing, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and
Response Dawn O’Connell said the Health and Human Services (HHS) will
make 360,000 vials of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine available.
The
360,000 vial is the equivalent of 1.8 million doses the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) authorized last week, as five doses that can be
used from a single vial.
The
Biden administration is also aiming to ramp up supplies of additional
monkeypox vaccines by clearing the way for a deal between the drugmaker
and Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc, a Michigan-based company, to
finish packaging millions of doses, Bloomberg reported on Thursday,
citing people familiar with the matter.
The
report said Grand River is close to a deal that would have it ready to
start work on Jynneos vaccine doses in four months, which would
typically take twice the time to get the finishing process up and
running.
American depositary receipts of Bavarian Nordic jumped more than 7% to $17.40 on Thursday.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) data show there is a 20% jump in monkeypox cases over the last week.
Infections
increased by nearly 7,500 to more than 35,000 cases total across 92
countries, but nearly all reported cases are in Europe and the Americas,
according to WHO data. Twelve deaths have been reported so far.
Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic has the only approved vaccine for monkeypox.
Demand for the shot has skyrocketed, leading the company to seek international production partners that can help it make doses.
Picture Credit: Reuters
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