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mattherder.bsky.social

@mattherder.bsky.social
124 followers 201 following 131 posts

law prof

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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The Ontario Provincial Government’s ads during the World Cup are so offensive I might have to give up watching football.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
IP isn't the issue. Time will tell if we have the political will and institutional courage to step up and do the right thing.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The ongoing outbreak in the Congo presents a critical opportunity to support regional innovation and equitable access, specifically, by working to enable access to rVSV-ZEBOV and/or the VSV platform technology that scientists at the NML developed as quickly as possible.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Just yesterday, the Govt of Canada joined four other organizations as part of the global coalition for local and regional production, innovation and equitable access. globalcoalitionforlocalproduction.org/canada-and-f...
globalcoalitionforlocalproduction.org
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
#4. There is growing recognition of the need for local and regional production to counter the inequities that shape access to many essential medicines.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Instead, the vaccine sits in stockpiles in Geneva, the US, and likely Canada as well, far removed from the regions where Ebola is endemic. And those who are working to improve rVSV-ZEBOV are also distant from the outbreak.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
That fact doesn't make the absence of access in places where drugs and vaccines are trialed any less absurd. Over 20,000 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea + Liberia took part in clinical trials during the 2014-15 epidemic. Yet there is no regional access to the vaccine.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This is the rule in pharma R&D, not the exception. Where trials are done is not necessarily where the resulting products are launched. See for e.g., pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41247741/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Physical Accessibility of Medicines in Countries Hosting Trials for FDA Approvals - PubMed
Results of this cross-sectional study showed that most countries involved in trials for FDA approvals do not gain timely physical access to the medicines that they help evaluate, particularly LMICs, w...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
#3. Even though the knowledge showing rVSV-ZEBOV was safe and effective was largely generated in West Africa during the 2014-2015 epidemic, as you can see from the above locations of the actors that continue to work with the vaccine none of them are based on the continent.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
But, again, as best I can tell, none of these activities, or the legal agreements underpinning them that are public, prevent rVSV-ZEBOV from being shared right now. It would be a lot easier to confirm this if all those agreements were in the public domain.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Other entities, including IAVI (New York, NY) and Public Health Vaccines (Cambridge, Massachusetts) are working with the VSV platform as well.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Hilleman Laboratories has in turn attracted $30 million in funding from @cepi.net to support that work in partnership with SK Bioscience in Seoul, Korea, alongside the German firm IDT Biologika (which produced GMP rVSV-ZEBOV for NML) & is now a subsidiary of SK Bioscience. cepi.net/cepi-backs-u...
cepi.net
CEPI backs updated Zaire ebolavirus vaccine that aims to improve vaccine affordability and accessibility
$30 million to update manufacturing process and make a vaccine intended to be less costly to produce and easier to deploy.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Merck (or MSD) has maintained market authorization of rVSV-ZEBOV (which it branded as Ervebo), but it has essentially tasked a non-profit org known which it jointly created with the @wellcometrust.bsky.social as Hilleman Laboratories (based in Singapore) to improve rVSV-ZEBOV's thermostability.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
BioProtection Systems became NewLink by the time of 2014-15 epidemic, but later merged with a rare disease company called Lumos Pharma, effectively exiting the Ebola space.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The licensing agreements that the NML entered into are likely still in force (till 2033) but the small, Iowa-based company that originally licensed the technology from the NML no longer exists.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Why do I think that? For one, all the patents related to rVSV-ZEBOV (save for one in the United States) have expired. And I don't think they were ever sought or granted in African countries.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
#2. There is, as best I can tell, no intellectual property related barrier to sharing rVSV-ZEBOV (or modified versions thereof) as past of the response to the outbreak in the Congo.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Whether the version of the VSV vaccine that targets Zaire might be useful against the current outbreak is a question beyond my expertise. And as @helenbranswell.bsky.social noted yesterday on @cbcnews.ca The Current, the studies done to date have been small in size. But....
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
And years later, some of the same researchers involved in the above study (but not at the NML) were using the same VSV platform to test a new vaccine designed to target the Bundibugyo virus: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37290053/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
A Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus-Based Vaccine Provides Postexposure Protection Against Bundibugyo Ebolavirus Infection - PubMed
This small, proof-of-concept study demonstrated early treatment with rVSVΔG/BDBV-GP provides a survival benefit in this nonhuman primate model of BDBV infection, perhaps through earlier initiation of ...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Even before the 2014-2015 epidemic in West Africa, NML scientists were involved in testing rVSV-ZEBOV to see if it might offer cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Single Immunization With a Monovalent Vesicular Stomatitis Virus–Based Vaccine Protects Nonhuman Primates Against Heterologous Challenge With Bundibugyo ebolavirus
The recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector-based monovalent vaccine platform expressing a filovirus glycoprotein has been demonstrated to provide protection from lethal challenge with Eb...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
We wrote (drawing on thousands of internal govt records) about the story and the incredible contribution of the NML's scientists (especially the late Dr. Judie Alimonti) and other publicly funded researchers during the development of that intervention here: academic.oup.com/jlb/article/...
academic.oup.com
From discovery to delivery: public sector development of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine
Abstract. The discovery and development of the Ebola rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine challenge the common assumption that the research and development for innovative th
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
#1. There is no vaccine for this strain of Ebola, but rVSV-ZEBOV, the world's first Ebola vaccine (targeting the Zaire strain), which was substantially developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, holds promise for responding to the Bundibugyo strain.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
A four point thread on the #Bundibugyo Ebola virus outbreak that is unfolding in the Congo, which @who.int declared a #PHEIC less than a week ago. www.who.int/news/item/17...
who.int
Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern
Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 12 - Determination of a public health emergency of international concern, including a pandemic emergency of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the Di...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Hmmm. Do you know anyone connected to Hamzawi?
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
"Defending against emerging diseases is literally a matter of life & death. Our government’s negligence endangers us" I do think RFK Jr & Bhattacharya killing mRNA vaccine R&D, & Bhattacharya killing federal funding for pandemic research & pushing for no preparedness at all, were unforgivable acts
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Roojin Habibi روژین (she/elle) @roojinhabibi.org · 25/04/2026
My partner talks often of the horrific era when as a child, AIDS struck family and friends, claiming uncles, aunts, cousins, classmates. All should read this by @stephanienolen.bsky.social. We’re regressing decades into the past - needlessly, unconscionably. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/h...
nytimes.com
AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Zambia, a Year After U.S. Cuts to H.I.V. Assistance
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Fatima Hassan @fatimahassan.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
'We are managing HIV with a selective lenacapavir roll-out, not ending it...' Our latest in health-e on SA's drip feed LEN-LA roll out - with @africanalliance.bsky.social - @hji-sa.bsky.social LINK: 📲 health-e.org.za/2026/04/20/m...
health-e.org.za
We Are Managing HIV With Selective Lenacapavir Roll-out, Not Ending It
Lenacapavir promised to change the course of the epidemic, but a limited, geographically selective rollout exposes a harder reality: who gets protected, who is left behind, and whether this is progres...
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Fatima Hassan @fatimahassan.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
In latest Medicine & Science @bmj.com Podcast-I join my co-author @mattherder.bsky.social & @kamranabbasi.bsky.social to discuss our recent Analysis (w. Andy Hill & @roojinhabibi.org) calling for WHO to declare USG a PHEIC also due to its 'unhinged nationalism'. 📲 podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
The Trump administration is an international health emergency
Podcast Episode · Medicine and Science from The BMJ · April 17 · 51m
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
While there is debate about that and other modelling studies, they all point to deaths in the millions in the years ahead. Which is why we argued that the US' actions amount to a public health emergency of international concern in @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/392/...
bmj.com
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
On the contrary, it’s a public health emergency of international concern. www.bmj.com/content/392/...
bmj.com
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Melissa Barber @mbarber.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Today, MSF is going public with something we've been fighting behind closed doors for months: Gilead will not sell us their new HIV drug, lenacapavir. The sticking point isn't even price, they just refuse to sell. Open letter linked + explainer 🧵1/ www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/gilea...
doctorswithoutborders.org
Gilead refuses to sell groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to MSF
Blocking humanitarian organizations from accessing a medical breakthrough puts vulnerable people across the world in danger.
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
WHO first recommended use of a 3HP (3 months of weekly rifapentine and isoniazid) short course of treatment for TB infection in 2018 Health Canada approved rifapentine this year! No drug company cared to apply for registration until now... TB not "profitable" www.stoptbcanada.com/news/respons...
stoptbcanada.com
Health Canada Grants Access to Rifapentine: A Milestone for Tuberculosis Prevention in Canada — Stop TB Canada
OTTAWA, MARCH 23, 2026 – Stop TB Canada welcomes Health Canada’s decision to grant regulatory approval for rifapentine, a key medication used to prevent tuberculosis (TB). This decision marks an ...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
ICYMI - Our analysis published in @bmj.com makes the case for @who.int to declare that the actions of the US under President Trump amount to a 'PHEIC' under the International Health Regulations. CC @roojinhabibi.org @fatimahassan.bsky.social @gavinyamey.bsky.social @jocalynclark.bsky.social
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Health Justice Initiative @hji-sa.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
MUST READ: 'The United States is driving a public health emergency of international concern' @mattherder.bsky.social @fatimahassan.bsky.social A Hill and @roojinhabibi.org Via @bmjmedicine.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/392/...
share.google
The United States is driving a public health emergency of international concern
Matthew Herder and colleagues call for broader mobilisation to avoid the deaths and morbidity in low and middle income countries likely to result from recent US policy changes Announcing the United ...
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Title: "The United States is Driving a Public Heath Emergency of International Concern" www.bmj.com/content/392/...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
New analysis published in @bmj.com where @roojinhabibi.org Fatima Hassan, Andy Hill & I argue the US -- through its actions -- creating a 'public health emergency of international concern'. Multiple epidemics are expected, so we call upon @who.int to act decisively. www.bmj.com/content/392/...
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Adam R Houston @healthlawadamh.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
So up in Canada's North, the government will spend: $35,000,000,000 to defend against theoretical military threat $ 27,000,000 to defend against real ongoing threat of TB Thinking of this comment on the #tuberculosis funding announcement:
From https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/minister-gull-masty-2026-inuit-communities-funding-9.7096172
Screenshot reading "'I would imagine Canadian soldiers don't want to contract TB either'
The federal government will also spend $27 million over five years to support Inuit-led, community-specific efforts to be rid of tuberculosis by supporting better prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.

Obed commended the government for its pledge, but said even more needs to be done to ensure the disease is completely eliminated from Inuit communities, especially as the federal government is preparing to spend billions of dollars to shore up Arctic security. 

"If the government of Canada wishes to expand its footprint in Inuit Nunangat through the military … I would imagine that Canadian soldiers don't want to contract TB either," Obed said. "
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Adam R Houston @healthlawadamh.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
This is a neat paper. "“Who the hell is upstream pushing them all in?” Reclaiming public health’s defining metaphor to counter the commercial determinants of health" journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
Screenshot of the abstract of the linked paper, reading "Public health policy and practice are often described by means of a metaphor that depicts interventions as “upstream” efforts to prevent people from falling into a river, from which they must be rescued “downstream” by overwhelmed healthcare services. The upstream-downstream metaphor has been described as public health’s defining metaphor. We apply a commercial determinants of health lens to re-engage with the initial intentions of McKinlay’s seminal 1975 essay from which this metaphor emerged, and to critique its current uses. We examine how the upstream-downstream metaphor has come to be used in ways that depart radically from its original intent, which was to characterise the practices of powerful commercial actors who profit from the production of harm and disease. The subtle but important shift in language from people being pushed, to falling into the river, among other depoliticising processes, contributes to an individualising and victim-blaming approach to health harms, deflecting from the role of commercial power and practices. There is a pressing need to reclaim public health’s defining metaphor as part of the wider agenda to address commercial determinants as the major public health challenges of our time."
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Hope the study looks at significant policy changes that are under consideration right now, such as the proposed Order on Foreign Regulatory Reliance -- a move that's hardly consistent with sovereignty, as I argued in @thestar.com www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
The Carney government is about to give up a vital bit of sovereignty. Worse, it could harm Canadians’ health
The lessons of the tainted blood scandal appear to be forgotten.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Interesting study underway @ #HESA. Sure hope the committee hears from a broad range of stakeholders, not only industry perspectives which appear to comprise almost the entire first meeting today.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
ICYMI
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
True. The joint review mechanism proposed is fine IMO & sharing info between regulators is good. Canada doesn't have the capacity to do foreign inspections at scale. But that's not equivalent to rubber-stamping new drug approvals thru the 'general deeming' pathway envisioned in the proposal tho.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
If you are concerned about this proposal, you can find its details and comment directly on its text via this link:L gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/202... The deadline to weigh in is Feb 28 @ 11:59 pm ET.
gazette.gc.ca
Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 159, Number 51: Order Providing for Reliance on Decisions of, or Documents Produced by, Foreign Regulatory Authorities in Respect of Certain Drugs
December 20, 2025, Part 1, Volume 159, Number 51, Canada Gazette
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
One thing I can tell you for certain is that at least some scientists inside Health Canada are alarmed by this proposal. And given that it's part of the GoC's 'red tape initiative', I'm very worried that this mechanism will be used to justify job cuts to Health Canada's core scientific staff.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
It's impossible to know what the intent of this proposal is unless GoC is more transparent about the list of eligible drugs and foreign regulators they plan to include within its scope.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Instead, I worry that this kind of process will be used by sponsors of new drugs that have been fast tracked in other countries, such as #aducanumab (often on the basis of surrogate endpoints) and have limited evidence of effectiveness but high prices.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
My theory, tho, is that those + other products aren't here because of our relatively small market size and disinterest from sponsors. I doubt, in other words, that this reliance procedure will attract those manufacturers to Canada.
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I agree those medicines are needed in Canada as @healthlawadamh.bsky.social & co explain here: www.cmaj.ca/content/195/...
cmaj.ca
Time for Canada to align with global innovations in treatment for tuberculosis
KEY POINTS Despite serious disruptions to tuberculosis (TB) programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in Canada,[1][1] the past few years have also seen global advances in TB treatment. Novel d...
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
How you view this proposal to rubber-stamp foreign decisions all depends on which kind of cases you are worried about. As @healthlawadamh.bsky.social points out in this story in @theglobeandmail.com it *could* help effective #TB drugs to finally reach Canada www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
theglobeandmail.com
Health Canada considering using decisions of foreign regulators for some drug approvals
Neither Health Minister’s office nor federal regulator ruled out including U.S. FDA on forthcoming list
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mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I also explain how this mechanism, if in place in 2021, could have allowed the entry of #aducanumab into Canada. A drug USFDA approved for Alzheimer's disease but which our regulator + the European Medicines Agency effectively rejected due to its poor effectiveness and significant safety risks.
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