International

Moderna reduces production of COVID-19 vaccine

September 13 |

Drugmaker Moderna announced Wednesday that it is scaling back manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine, an updated version of which was approved this week by U.S. regulators.

Moderna said the decision is driven by lower post-pandemic demand that will help the company reach its target of 75% to 80% gross revenue growth sooner.

Moderna is in talks with its partners that fill vials and syringes with its messenger RNA-based COVID vaccines globally to reduce production, Stephen Hoge, president of the Massachusetts-based company, said in an interview.

The reduction, Hoge added, will help Moderna adapt to the endemic phase of the disease, which had led to a drop in demand for COVID vaccines as buyers have reduced orders for injections.

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Moderna predicted in August that U.S. demand for the vaccine would reach between 50 million and 100 million doses in the fall season. About 153.8 million COVID injections were administered in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“For the last two years, we’ve been in pandemic mode producing 1 billion doses a year,” Hoge said. “We’ve been waiting for the time when the pandemic is officially behind us and we need to restructure that manufacturing footprint.”

Following clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday, Moderna said it would begin shipping doses of the COVID vaccine throughout the United States.

The company has agreements to supply its vaccine to other countries, including Britain, Canada and Japan, but does not yet have an agreement with the European Union, according to Hoge, who also said COVID was the focus of Moderna’s manufacturing agreement with China.

Hoge added that while Moderna is urgently working to reduce COVID manufacturing, talks with third-party manufacturers, which will help produce the upcoming respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza vaccines that investors hope will begin to replace Moderna’s dwindling COVID revenues, could extend into next year.

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“These are relationships we will need for decades to come,” Hoge said.

Moderna also announced Wednesday that it had completed the regulatory filing for its RSV vaccine and that its flu vaccine had generated a stronger immune response against all four A and B strains of the virus compared with traditional flu vaccines in a late-stage trial.

The efficacy of Moderna’s flu vaccine was demonstrated in all age groups, including older patients, and proved to be safe and tolerable, according to the company.

Moderna also said it had found its vaccine to be equal or superior to Sanofi’s high-dose flu vaccine in a separate initial comparative study.

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International

Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka

Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.

The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.

An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.

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Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.

Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.

Internacionales

Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

International

Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.

During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.

“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.

“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”

Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.

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On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.