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O Complexo Industrial de Biotecnologia em Saúde (Cibs) do Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz) teve homologado (30/12) o vencedor da licitação para a sua construção, no campus de Santa Cruz, na Zona Oeste do Rio de Janeiro. O resultado foi publicado no Diário Oficial da União (DOU) e a empresa vencedora foi o Consórcio do Empreendimento NCPFI RJ. Com o processo concluído, o próximo passo será a assinatura do contrato para início das obras do futuro empreendimento, que será o maior centro de produção de produtos biológicos da América Latina e um dos…
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The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, by means of the Fio-Schisto, the Translational Research Program in Schistosomiasis, informs that researcher Otávio Pieri, of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), was invited to become part of the World Health Organization (WHO) group on schistosomiasis and helminth diseases transmitted through the soil (geo helminth diseases). Fio-Schisto is bound to the Vice-Presidency of Biological Research and Collections.
The invitation highlights that schistosomiasis and helminth diseases transmitted through the soil are a significant public health issue at a global level, which…
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The search for a coordinated solution to a common problem brought together representatives from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia this Tuesday (9/11) in the auditorium of the Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos). Organized by the Presidency Pro Tempore of Brazil in Mercosur, the Technical Seminar on Access to COVID-19 Vaccines: National Strategies and Possibilities of Expansion of the Regional Productive Capacity brought the sharing of experiences and challenges. The proposals that emerged in the debate - such as the suggestion of mapping the capacities and…
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Last Thursday (25 November) the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, by means of its Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz), submitted to the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) a request of post-registration alteration of its COVID-19 vaccine (recombinant), asking to include the Institute as the manufacturing unit of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). Check out this 360º view of the production area for the Brazilian API for vaccines, at Fiocruz.
Five batches of Brazilian API have been produced, and four of them are currently going through analytical…
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In 2018, the king of the Yoruba people, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwus, visited Fiocruz and introduced the idea of a partnership in the field of traditional medicine and integrative health practices. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conversation was stalled, but it was resumed this Wednesday (November 24th) with a visit of a delegation from the Palace of Ife to the Foundation.
(Photo: Pedro Paulo Gonçalves)
The delegation was led by the kings Ajero of Ijero (from the Ekiti state) and Apomu of Alapomu (from the Osun state), along with the Oduduwa Heritage…
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Severe cases of COVID-19 are related to the ageing of the immune system and to acute immunodeficiency. It is what the new study led by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz) and by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) shows, published in the academic journal Journal of Infectious Diseases.
By analyzing blood samples of patients that have been hospitalized with the disease, the researchers detected signs of hyperactivity, exhaustion and ageing of the defense cells known as T helper cells. According to scientists, the data shows loss of responsiveness of these cells in severe COVID…
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“One mistake, one correction”: according to Carlos Morel, a researcher from the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, former Fiocruz president and current coordinator of the Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS), this is how the world works. Last Tuesday (23 November), after attending the first meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a group formed by the World Health Organization (WHO), Morel defended the mass sequencing of circulating virus, an idea he hopes to gain traction with the new group. “It is important to sequence what’s out…
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The first dose protects, but immunization requires a second dose and varies according to the age group and the time interval between doses. These are some conclusions of the pre-publication study that evaluated the effectiveness of the first dose of the AstraZeneca/Fiocruz vaccine against symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in the population of Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). A 42.4% protection against symptomatic cases was estimated 21 days after the first dose of the vaccine. “It has a good result for containing symptomatic cases, but the second dose is essential to guarantee more…
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With two actions this week, Fiocruz became even more engaged in the fight against Hansen's, a neglected disease that had its situation aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday (11/17), the Foundation signed a Cooperation Agreement for joining the global campaign Don't Forget Hansen's Disease, with the state government and other partners, in addition to lighting the castle with purple at night as one of the actions to raise awareness. This Thursday (11/18), Fiocruz deepened the debate during the 1st Symposium on Neglected Diseases Fiocruz-Novartis: focus on Chagas and Hansen's…
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Sociologist and president of Fiocruz, Nísia Trindade Lima was appointed for The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS). The appointment was in the Academy’s General Meeting, on November 1st, as part of its 15th general conference.
Nísia is one of the 20 women who were appointed, in a total of 58 new members (Photo: Reproduction)
TWAS has the goal of bringing different scientific societies of developing countries closer, to promote its sustainable prosperity through science and technology, supporting researchers by granting scholarships and…
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There are a lot of statements, and a lot of commitments as well, but there is a lack of distinction of responsibilities and of the obligation in fulfilling the goals set, which hinders the operation of the G20. That is what the participants in the latest Advanced Seminar of the Fiocruz Global Health Center (CRIS/Fiocruz) point out. The G-20 Webinar: What we should expect from the richest people in the world in global and planetary health? analyzed the conclusions of the summit of the 19 countries that have the world’s main economies and the European Union.
For Paulo Esteves,…
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In another huge step to the internationalization of education, Fiocruz updated the ordinance that regulates the dual-degree stricto sensu graduation program regime with foreign higher education institutions regarded as of strategic relevance for the Foundation, no. 508, of 2021. The initiative allows students to get dual-degrees or titles in master's and doctorate's degrees. With this regime, when finishing the program, the student receives a diploma from a foreign institution that is part of the cooperation, along with a Fiocruz diploma.
The cooperation convention establishes the conditions…
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Last Thursday (28 October) Fiocruz signed, during a ceremony that took place at the headquarters of AstraZeneca, in Cambridge, United Kingdom, a joint declaration of commitment for the acquisition of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) with the goal of producing 60 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (recombinant) in order to make up the deliveries of the Foundation for 2022. The commitment signed by the institutions aims to guarantee wide availability of vaccine doses for the first semester. With the guarantee of the imported ingredient, Fiocruz will be able to deliver, through the…
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A new study published in Nature Communications last Thursday (28/11) shows that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, produced in Brazil by Fiocruz, provide high protection against the Gamma variant in people above 60 years old. Based on São Paulo, the research shows that the second dose increases protection against death by about 30% when compared to the first dose, reaching an effectivity of 93.6%. Carried out by 20 researchers in Brazil, the United States and Spain, the study called Effectiveness of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in older adults during the circulation of the Gamma variant in São…
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Ten years after its signing, the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health is more relevant than ever, as shown by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world. To celebrate the document’s tenth anniversary and evaluate the approaches adopted since, two webinars held last Thursday (21 October) brought together many actors that were crucial for the negotiations that culminated in the declaration and for the quest for its implementation. While the World Health Organization (WHO) organized the seminar Actions on the Social Determinants of Health Equity, opened by the…
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The team of the Viral Vaccines Laboratory of the National Institute for Quality Control in Health (INCQS/Fiocruz), which works with immunobiological drugs against rabies (LVV-Raiva), is participating in the second phase of an international study to replace potency assays in anti-rabies vaccines, traditionally made using mice for over 50 years.
Under code BSP148 and funded by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM), an institution of the Council of Europe in charge of the issuing of the European Pharmacopoeia, the research aims to validate the immuno-…
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Production of the Fiocruz Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) for COVID-19 vaccines is ongoing and is now moving on to a new and important phase of the process. Two pre-validation batches of the product manufactured by Fiocruz have been approved in all in-house quality tests and are now on their way to an external quality control at USA laboratories. At these labs, the samples will go through a complex testing process that involves 14 tests in addition to those carried out in Brazil, the longest of which takes 56 days to complete. This set of tests compare Brazilian and foreign APIs,…
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When Fiocruz joined the small summit of guest countries of the Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Community (G-STIC) in 2018, the world still did not know Sars-CoV-2. Now, while the world population takes the vaccine for COVID-19, the fifth edition of the annual conference (the fourth with the participation of the Foundation), bets on a hybrid participation model from October 24th to 26th. The agenda includes both virtual and on-site sessions looking for new technological solutions to serve the society that are environmentally friendly and aimed at 9 of the 17 Sustainable…
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Fiocruz will be part, starting next week, of a Phase 3 international multicenter study with the drug Molnupiravir, manufactured by the pharmaceutical company MSD. The goal is to verify its efficiency to prevent the COVID-19 spread and transmission among people exposed to the Sars-CoV-2 virus. The study will occur simultaneously in seven centers in Brazil, two of which are under the Fiocruz responsibility: Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio de Janeiro. The coordination is under the responsibility of researchers Julio Croda and Margareth Dalcolmo.
To evaluate the Molnupiravir use as post-exposure…
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On Thursday (September, 30th), the project for the installation of the Pharmaceutical Plant in Maputo, Mozambique capital, was concluded. The announcement was made in a joint statement by the Brazil and Mozambique governments and is the result of the technology transfer mission and partnership with the Institute of Technology in Medicines (Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz).
"We are finishing this important project with the merit of having left the factory producing, teams trained, and a set of technologies transferred that are now part of the initial Mozambican Drug Society portfolio", said the…
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The ambassador of Botswana to Brazil, Tebogo Montshome, visited Fiocruz last Thursday (October 7th). She decided to get to know the Foundation while visiting Rio de Janeiro to identify areas of possible cooperation between her country and the institution. Greeted by the Vice-President of Production and Innovation in Health, Marco Krieger, Montshome was particularly interested in staff training, research and production of drugs and vaccines.
Marco Krieger, Tebogo Montshome, Sethunya Sedimo and Augusto Paulo Silva (Photo: Peter Ilicciev)
The ambassador was accompanied by the embassy's…
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With Fiocruz among the signatories, it was launched this Wednesday (October 6), the São Paulo Declaration on Planetary Health, an initiative of Planetary Health Alliance and the University of São Paulo, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The declaration is considered the first document of the global planetary health community to describe the actions needed to achieve what it calls "the great transition: a just transformation to a world that optimizes the health and all people and the planet's well-being".
Published on Wednesday in the scientific journal The…
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A new study by Fiocruz on the effectiveness of vaccination in Brazil shows that the population has benefitted from the vaccination plan against the Sars-CoV-2 in the prevention of severe cases and deaths by Covid-19, although effectiveness varies between age groups. The analysis, which also included subjects vaccinated with the first dose of the Pfizer shot, was carried out between January 17 and July 19 this year, a total of six months, in which the Gamma variant was predominant. The study evaluated more than 66 million records and is available in the MedRxiv online repository as preprint (…
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In the first decades of the twentieth century, the American multinational United Fruit Company, prominent in the production and sale of tropical fruits, found a way to deal with malnutrition among its workers in Costa Rica: it imported canned and processed foods from the United States. At the same time, the solution to high infant mortality in the banana plantation zone was the introduction of an artificial food developed by Nestlé. Years later, in Mexico, the government followed the “fortified” food trend, promoting the consumption of vitamin-enriched sugar.
No, obesity did not appear…
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The Institute of Drug Technology (Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz) is closer to starting Pediatric Praziquantel production, indicated for schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that affects about 200 million people worldwide, half of whom are children. Result of the International Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium, the drug is in the clinical trials last phase. Pilot batches are expected to be produced in March 2022 and the product available in 2024.
It is a water-dispersible tablet, which facilitates its administration to children under the age of six. Until now, the medication available for this…
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The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the main subjects discussed at two meetings that drew the attention of the entire world and of the region last week. While chiefs of state and of government debated the effects of the disease at the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations, at the 59th Board of Directors and 73rd Session of the Regional Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Americas, organized by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), ministries of health discussed how to obtain a more equitable distribution of vaccines. With several issues in common, the agendas of…
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By means of its Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos), last Monday (September 27th) Fiocruz ended the production of the first batches called pre-validation batches of the national Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) for the COVID-19 vaccine. The ingredient will now be submitted to quality control tests at the institution to then be sent to the final processing phase of the vaccine. The first pre-validation batch, which was produced early in September, is also under analysis.
The goal of the two pre-validation batches is to show that the process works as expected and, if…
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Diseases that Brazilians are very familiar with, such as dengue fever, zika and chikungunya, are being directly affected by the pandemic, both with the transfer of human and material resources to the fight against COVID-19 and with possible undernotifications. But we can learn lessons from this experience, as shown by the 20th Advanced Seminaries on Global Health and Health Diplomacy of the Fiocruz Global Health Center (CRIS/Fiocruz), held last Thursday (September 23rd). And as indicated by the Challenges and opportunities to control arbovirus diseases in COVID-19 times webinar, this problem…
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A edição extra do Boletim Observatório Covid-19 Fiocruz, publicada nesta quarta-feira (22/9), reforça a tendência de queda no indicador de ocupação de leitos de Covid-19 para adultos. Com exceção de Espírito Santo e Distrito Federal, onde se observou crescimento, entre 13 e 20 de agosto, o indicador continua apresentando sinais de queda ou estabilização no país. Segundo dados obtidos em 20 de setembro, nenhum estado está na zona crítica, com taxa superior a 80%.
O Amazonas apresentou aumento no indicador de 29% para 50%, mas permanece fora da zona de alerta: esse crescimento…
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