Podtech

In the pharmaceutical industry, maintaining strict control over manufacturing environments is crucial to producing safe and effective health products. Cleanrooms – specialized environments that help prevent contamination during drug production – are essential to this goal.   Historically, cleanrooms have relied on traditional stick-built construction. However, with ever-evolving regulations and market demands, modular cleanrooms have emerged…

On 3 February 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry of Health of Uganda, and other partners launched a clinical efficacy trial for a vaccine against the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus.   Why is this a big deal? Well, this is the first-ever trial to assess the clinical efficacy of a vaccine…

In recent years, the world has seen tremendous advancements in biopharmaceutical product development, ease of doing business, clinical trials, expedited reviews, and other aspects that have made it easier for ordinary people to access essential treatments. A column by a biopharma operations subject matter expert (SME) in a digital pharma publication highlighted an important fact –…

Julia Paredes López grew up in Cerro Colorado, Chihuahua, Mexico, an area where access to medical care was limited. At the age of 17, she witnessed pain, disease and death all around her as a measles outbreak claimed precious lives – all because of a lack of vaccines.   At the age of 50, López…

In the bid to achieve universal health coverage, we often speak of the need for better quality healthcare facilities, better trained doctors and nurses, increasing medicine and vaccine supply, and reducing out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures. These factors do, without a doubt, play a significant role in ensuring that people around the world are able to improve…

Rift Valley fever is a viral disease that affects both humans and livestock. Transmitted by mosquitoes, the virus was first discovered in the Rift Valley in Kenya in the 1930’s. Over the years, the disease has also been detected in other African countries and parts of the Middle East.   Since Rift Valley fever is…

In May 2024, life sciences industry analysts at McKinsey & Company released an article about innovation in vaccines. Their study compared trends they witnessed in 2019 to trends prevalent five years later, post the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.   Within less than a decade, the vaccine development, production and business landscape was fundamentally altered.   In…

In September 2024, the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition released the results of a survey of over 100 experts in epidemiology, virology and infectious diseases from around the world. This survey of experts addressed some of the most important questions of our post-Covid-19-pandemic times.   How prepared are we to deal with another pandemic?   What…

In today’s world, the biopharma industry faces unique challenges, driven by climate change, a growing global population, and humanitarian crises. This state of the world has resulted in a growing demand for vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and medical technologies. Combined with the complexities of unpredictable demand and inflexibility in production capacities, being a biopharmaceutical manufacturer is…

Despite spectacular advances in biopharmaceutical research, drug development and overall quality of life over the past few decades, tuberculosis remains a stain on global health progress.   8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in 2023. That number is not only a notable increase from the 7.5 million reported the year prior, but…