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Merck's COVID-19 antiviral pill is the second authorized by the FDA
The FDA has approved a second COVID-19 antiviral pill, but Merck's offering might not get as much uptake as its Pfizer rival.
FDA issues its first approval for an Ebola vaccine
A month ago the European Union issued marketing authorization for a vaccine to prevent the Ebola virus in adults, and now the FDA has approved it. While noting that Ebola cases in the US have been very rare, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Peter Marks said in a statement that "Vaccination is essential to help prevent outbreaks and to stop the Ebola virus from spreading when outbreaks do occur." Studies supporting its approval included one with 900 subjects in Canada, Spain and the U.S., where antibody responses matched with those seen elsewhere. Side effects included "pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as headache, fever, joint and muscle aches and fatigue." An ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the Congo has killed more than 2,000 people, and more than 200,000 people have received the vaccine. A study during an outbreak in Guinea " determined to be 100% effective in preventing Ebola cases with symptom onset greater than 10 days after vaccination." The EU marketing approval precedes increased manufacturing of the dose, called V920, in Germany later in 2020.
The EU just approved a vaccine to prevent Ebola
Today, the European Union granted an Ebola vaccine "conditional marketing authorization." The vaccine, developed by the pharmaceutical giant Merck, is known as Ervebo. It's the first human Ebola vaccine to be approved by the EU.
FDA approves a more 'personalized' cancer drug
Cancer treatments are becoming more personal. The Food and Drug Administration recently gave accelerated approval for Keytruda, a pre-existing drug from Merck, for use on patients diagnosed with solid tumors containing a specific biomarker. Rather than basing treatment on where the mutation originated, Keytruda will be used to treat microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) cancers, those that are mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) and are otherwise not able to be surgically removed. These types of tumors affect how the DNA is repaired inside the cell.
Audi teams up with Philips, Merck for world's first 3D OLED tail lights
We've seen LEDs, OLEDs and even frickin' lasers used in automotive lighting, but Audi's just cranked things up a notch with the world's first 3D OLED tail lights. The prototype system was developed in collaboration with Philips, Merck and the University of Cologne, and the research was funded by the German government. What's 3D OLED about, exactly? It's the application of OLEDs to curved glass surfaces, which enables complex shapes with multiple layers and transparency. For the project, Philips invented new manufacturing techniques to produce OLEDs on formed glass using wet chemistry, and Audi then designed tail lights for a TT Roadster to validate the technology. While there's no word yet on the longevity or efficiency, we figure it's only a matter of time until 3D OLED lighting comes to production vehicles.
Plastic Logic plans 2012 launch for color e-paper display
E-readers as a whole best be watching their backs (or planning a wave of new functions, one), but it's safe to say that having color displays would give 'em a leg-up on the retina-killing, battery-draining LCD-based alternatives. Plastic Logic is still working to get its first e-reader (the decidedly not color QUE, for those curious) into the paws of consumers, but already the outfit is planning for the next big thing. Achim Neu, Director SCM, recently spoke at the International Electronics Forum, reportedly stating that his company is aiming to "have a manufacturable color display by the end of 2011 and move it into volume production in 2012." Details beyond that were scarce, but still, 2012 seems a long ways out -- if Qualcomm can get its color Mirasol panel into shipping products, there's a better than average chance that none of this will matter.
