Health News Roundup: Fauci warns COVID vaccine; Vaccine for COVID will need outside expert and more

"But the chances of it being 98% effective is not great, which means you must never abandon the public health approach." Vaccine for COVID-19 will need outside expert review, U.S. regulator says The United States will need to have independent experts review COVID-19 vaccine candidates before approval, the country's top drug regulator said on Friday, offering reassurance that his agency would not cut corners in the race to roll out a vaccine.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Fauci warns COVID-19 vaccine may be only partially effective, public health measures still needed

An approved coronavirus vaccine could end up being effective only 50-60% of the time, meaning public health measures will still be needed to keep the pandemic under control, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said on Friday. "We don't know yet what the efficacy might be. We don't know if it will be 50% or 60%. I'd like it to be 75% or more," Fauci said in a webinar hosted by Brown University. "But the chances of it being 98% effective is not great, which means you must never abandon the public health approach."

Vaccine for COVID-19 will need outside expert review, U.S. regulator says

The United States will need to have independent experts review COVID-19 vaccine candidates before approval, the country's top drug regulator said on Friday, offering reassurance that his agency would not cut corners in the race to roll out a vaccine. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said COVID-19 vaccine candidates will be reviewed according to established legal and regulatory standards for medical products, including by an outside advisory committee.

U.S. pandemic worse than Mexico, Lopez Obrador says after travel warning

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday the United States had greater problems from the coronavirus than his country, a day after the U.S. State Department urged citizens not to travel south of the border, citing high contagion rates. "We have many fewer problems with the pandemic than the problems that, unfortunately, they are facing," Lopez Obrador said during a Friday morning press conference.

Takeda to make Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Japan

Takeda Pharmaceutical will manufacture and sell up to 250 million doses of Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Japan every year, the two companies said on Friday. To ramp up production, Takeda will get funding from Japan's Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry, the companies said.

U.S. surpasses 160,000 coronavirus deaths as school openings near

U.S. deaths from the coronavirus pandemic exceeded 160,000 on Friday, nearly a quarter of the world’s total, according to a Reuters tally, as the country debates whether schools are ready to reopen their doors in the coming weeks. The country with the most coronavirus cases, the United States recorded 160,003 deaths and 4.91 million cases. Coronavirus deaths are rising in 23 states and cases in 20 states, according to a Reuters analysis of data the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks.

Roche-PTC Therapeutics' oral spinal muscular atrophy drug wins FDA approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an oral treatment from Roche Holding AG and PTC Therapeutics Inc for spinal muscular atrophy in adults and children two months and above. The drug, risdiplam, to be sold as Evrysdi will compete with Biogen's Spinraza and Novartis' gene therapy, Zolgensma.

Venezuelans breaking coronavirus rules punished under the sun

Security forces are punishing some Venezuelans who violate anti-coronavirus measures with physical exercise, sitting under the sun and even beating, witnesses and rights groups say. Roberto Vargas was heading to buy flour with his children in Caracas on Thursday when he lowered his face mask to wipe sweat from his face, he said. A National Guard officer noticed and ordered him to spend 50 minutes sat on the roadside with several dozen others, the builder recounted.

Pfizer to make Gilead's COVID-19 treatment remdesivir

Pfizer Inc said on Friday it signed a multiyear agreement to make COVID-19 treatment remdesivir for developer Gilead Sciences Inc, which is under pressure to increase tight supplies of the antiviral drug. Gilead is aiming to make enough of the drug by the end of the year to treat more than 2 million COVID-19 patients and agreed to send nearly all of its remdesivir supply to the United States through September.

New clues on virus reproduction mystery; non-COVID vaccines may help

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Possible "missing link" found in virus reproduction cycle Japan in deals with AstraZeneca, Novavax for COVID-19 vaccines

Japan plans to buy AstraZeneca Plc's experimental COVID-19 vaccine and fund a local company to manufacture Novavax's vaccine candidate, ramping up its stockpile plan as it battles surging infections. Japan will order 120 million doses of the experimental vaccine developed by the British pharmaceutical company, beginning with 30 million doses by March next year. It did not disclose purchase prices.

(With inputs from agencies.)