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Adagio Therapeutics annonce l’élargissement de la population de patients participant à l’essai clinique mondial de phase 2/3 de l’ADG20 pour la prévention de la COVID-19

Le Comité de surveillance des données indépendant approuve l’élargissement aux adolescents ainsi qu’aux femmes enceintes et allaitantes sur la base des données d’innocuité et de tolérance de la partie de pré-inclusion de phase 2

WALTHAM, Massachusetts, 10 sept. 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Adagio Therapeutics, Inc., une société biopharmaceutique au stade clinique axée sur la découverte, le développement et la commercialisation de solutions à base d’anticorps pour les maladies infectieuses présentant un potentiel pandémique, a annoncé aujourd’hui que le Comité indépendant de surveillance des données (IDMC) a formulé une recommandation visant à étendre le recrutement dans l’essai de phase 3 dans le cadre de l’essai EVADE de phase 2/3 de l’ADG20 pour la prévention de la COVID-19, afin d’inclure des adolescents et des femmes enceintes ou allaitantes. ainsi que pour réduire le délai de surveillance post-injection spécifié dans le protocole. Les évaluations de l’IDMC sont basées sur son examen des données d’innocuité et de tolérance sans insu provenant de 200 participants inscrits dans la partie de « pré-inclusion » de phase 2 de l’essai. Adagio n’a toujours pas connaissance des données et prévoit de mettre en œuvre les recommandations de l’IDMC lors de la phase 3 de l’essai. EVADE est mené à l’échelle mondiale, y compris dans les régions où la prévalence des variants du SARS-CoV-2 est élevée, afin d’évaluer la capacité d’une dose intramusculaire unique de l’ADG20 à prévenir la COVID-19 dans les contextes de pré et post-exposition.

« Au vu du besoin urgent de traitements supplémentaires et d’options préventives pour la COVID-19, en particulier dans les populations vulnérables, nous sommes ravis qu’une évaluation indépendante des données d’innocuité provenant de la partie de pré-inclusion d’EVADE ait soutenu l’inclusion d’adolescents et de femmes enceintes ou allaitantes dans la prochaine phase de l’étude », a déclaré Lynn Connolly, M.D., Ph.D., directrice médicale d’Adagio. « Sur la base de l’activité puissante et large de l’ADG20 dans les études non cliniques, ainsi que de sa demi-vie prolongée et de sa facilité d’administration, nous pensons que cet anticorps a le potentiel de devenir une option prophylactique de choix pour la COVID-19, en particulier pour les groupes vulnérables tels que les enfants et les personnes immunodéprimées, pour lesquels les options sont actuellement limitées ou inexistantes. »

L’essai EVADE est un essai clinique mondial, multicentrique, en double aveugle et contrôlé par placebo évaluant l’ADG20 dans deux cohortes indépendantes. La première cohorte (prophylaxie post-exposition) est destinée à évaluer l’innocuité et l’efficacité de l’ADG20 par rapport au placebo dans la prévention de la COVID-19 suite à une exposition à une personne atteinte d’une infection au SARS-CoV-2 confirmée en laboratoire. La deuxième cohorte (prophylaxie pré-exposition) est destinée à évaluer l’efficacité et l’innocuité de l’ADG20 par rapport au placebo chez les individus présentant un risque accru d’infection par le SARS-CoV-2 en raison de leurs situations professionnelles, de leurs conditions de logement ou de leurs loisirs, ainsi que chez les individus présentant un risque accru de mauvaise réponse vaccinale, y compris les personnes dont le système immunitaire est affaibli ou atteintes d’autres co-morbidités. Le critère principal d’efficacité dans les deux cohortes est la prévention de la COVID-19 symptomatique confirmée en laboratoire. Pour tout complément d’information sur l’essai EVADE, veuillez consulter le site https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04859517.

Le programme de développement clinique pour l’ADG20 comprend deux essais supplémentaires : l’essai clinique de phase 1 en cours sur l’ADG20 chez des volontaires en bonne santé et l’essai STAMP en cours évaluant l’ADG20 en tant que traitement pour les personnes à haut risque atteintes d’une forme légère ou modérée de la COVID-19 (voir clinicaltrials.gov).

À propos de l’ADG20
L’ADG20, un anticorps monoclonal ciblant la protéine spike du SARS-CoV-2 et des coronavirus connexes, est en cours de développement aux fins de la prévention et du traitement de la COVID-19, la maladie provoquée par le SARS-CoV-2. L’ADG20 a été conçu et élaboré en vue d’offrir de puissantes et vastes capacités de neutralisation du SARS-CoV-2 et des autres sarbecovirus du clade 1 permettant de cibler un épitope bien conservé dans le domaine de fixation du récepteur. L’ADG20 exerce une puissante activité neutralisante contre la souche originale du SARS-CoV-2 et tous ses variants préoccupants connus. L’ADG20 pourrait avoir un impact sur la réplication virale et la maladie subséquente grâce à de multiples mécanismes d’action, notamment le blocage direct de l’entrée virale dans la cellule hôte (neutralisation) et l’élimination des cellules hôtes infectées par le biais d’une activité médiée par Fc des cellules effectrices de l’immunité innée. L’ADG20 est formulé à concentrations élevées, ce qui permet son administration intramusculaire, et a été conçu pour avoir une longue demi-vie, dans le but d’offrir une protection immédiate et durable. Adagio fait progresser l’ADG20 grâce à de multiples essais cliniques à l’échelle mondiale.

À propos d’Adagio Therapeutics
Adagio est une société biopharmaceutique au stade clinique axée sur la découverte, le développement et la commercialisation de solutions à base d’anticorps pour les maladies infectieuses présentant un potentiel pandémique. Le portefeuille d’anticorps de la société a été optimisé grâce aux capacités de pointe d’Adimab en matière d’ingénierie d’anticorps et est conçu pour fournir aux patients et aux cliniciens une combinaison inégalée de puissance, d’ampleur, de protection durable (grâce à l’extension de la demi-vie), de faisabilité de fabrication et de prix abordable. Le portefeuille d’anticorps anti-SARS-CoV-2 d’Adagio comprend plusieurs anticorps fortement neutralisants non concurrents dotés d’épitopes de liaison distincts, dirigés par l’ADG20. Adagio a conclu avec des sous-traitants tiers un contrat portant sur des capacités de fabrication pour la production de l’ADG20 jusqu’à l’achèvement des essais cliniques et, en cas d’approbation par les autorités réglementaires, jusqu’au lancement commercial initial. Pour plus d’informations, rendez-vous sur notre site www.adagiotx.com.

Contacts :
Contact auprès des médias :
Dan Budwick, 1AB
Dan@1abmedia.com

Contact auprès des investisseurs :
Monique Allaire, THRUST Strategic Communications
monique@thrustsc.com

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Adagio Therapeutics Anuncia Expansão da População de Pacientes no Ensaio Clínico Global de Fase 2/3 do ADG20 para Prevenção da COVID-19

Comitê Independente de Monitoramento de Dados Apoia a Expansão para Adolescentes e Gestantes e Mulheres Amamentando com Base em Dados de Segurança e Tolerabilidade da Fase 2 de Lead-In

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A Adagio Therapeutics, Inc., uma empresa biofarmacêutica de estágio clínico focada na descoberta, desenvolvimento e comercialização de soluções baseadas em anticorpos para doenças infecciosas com potencial pandêmico, anunciou hoje que o comitê independente de monitoramento de dados (IDMC) para o ensaio de EVADE da Fase 2/3 do ADG20 para a prevenção da COVID-19 fez uma recomendação para a expansão da inscrição no ensaio de Fase 3 para incluir adolescentes e mulheres grávidas ou lactantes, bem como para diminuir o tempo de monitoramento pós-injeção especificado pelo protocolo. As avaliações do IDMC têm por base a análise dos dados de segurança e tolerabilidade não cegos de 200 participantes inscritos na parte inicial da Fase 2 do estudo. A Adagio permanece cega em relação aos dados e planeja implementar as recomendações do IDMC para a parte da Fase 3 do estudo. A EVADE está sendo conduzida globalmente, inclusive em regiões onde há uma alta prevalência de variantes preocupantes do SARS-CoV-2, para avaliar a capacidade de uma dose única e intramuscular de ADG20 para prevenir a COVID-19 em ambos os cenários pré e pós-exposição.

“Dada a necessidade urgente de tratamento adicional e de opções preventivas para a COVID-19, particularmente em populações vulneráveis, estamos satisfeitos que uma avaliação independente dos dados de segurança da parte inicial da EVADE apoiou a inclusão de adolescentes e mulheres grávidas ou lactantes na próxima fase do estudo”, disse Lynn Connolly, M.D., Ph.D., diretora médica da Adagio. “Com base na atividade potente e ampla do ADG20 em estudos não clínicos, bem como em sua meia-vida prolongada e facilidade de administração, acreditamos que este anticorpo tenha o potencial de se tornar uma opção profilática preferida para COVID-19, particularmente para grupos vulneráveis, como crianças e imunocomprometidos, para os quais atualmente exista opções limitadas ou não disponíveis.”

O ensaio EVADE é um ensaio global clínico, multicêntrico, duplo-cego, controlado por placebo que avalia o ADG20 em duas coortes independentes. A primeira coorte (profilaxia pós-exposição) é projetada para avaliar a segurança e eficácia do ADG20 em comparação com o placebo para a prevenção da COVID-19 após a exposição a um indivíduo com infecção por SARS-CoV-2 confirmada laboratorialmente. A segunda coorte (profilaxia pré-exposição) é projetada para avaliar a eficácia e a segurança do ADG20 em comparação com o placebo em indivíduos com risco aumentado de infecção por SARS-CoV-2 devido a situações ocupacionais, de alojamento ou recreativas, e em indivíduos com risco aumentado de resposta vacinal ruim, incluindo indivíduos com sistema imunológico comprometido ou outras comorbidades. O desfecho primário da eficácia em ambas as coortes é a prevenção da COVID-19 sintomática confirmada laboratorialmente. Para mais informação sobre o ensaio EVADE, visite https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04859517.

O programa de desenvolvimento clínico para o ADG20 inclui dois ensaios adicionais: ensaio clínico de Fase 1 em andamento do ADG20 em voluntários saudáveis e ensaio STAMP em andamento de avaliação do ADG20 como tratamento para indivíduos de alto risco com COVID-19 leve ou moderado (consulte clinicaltrials.gov).

Sobre o ADG20
O ADG20, um anticorpo monoclonal direcionado à proteína Spike do SARS-CoV-2 e coronavírus relacionados, está sendo desenvolvido para a prevenção e tratamento da COVID-19, a doença causada pelo SARS-CoV-2. ADG20 foi projetado e criado para alta potência e ampla neutralização contra SARS-CoV-2 e sarbecovírus de clado 1 adicionais, direcionando-se a um epítopo altamente conservado no domínio de ligação ao receptor. O ADG20 exibe atividade neutralizante potente contra a cepa SARS-CoV-2 original, bem como todas as variantes preocupantes conhecidas. O ADG20 tem o potencial de impactar a replicação viral e a doença subsequente através de múltiplos mecanismos de ação, incluindo o bloqueio direto da entrada viral na célula hospedeira (neutralização) e a eliminação de células hospedeiras infectadas através da atividade efetora imune inata mediada por Fc. O ADG20 é formulado em altas concentrações, permitindo a administração intramuscular, e foi projetado para ter uma meia-vida longa, com o objetivo de fornecer proteção rápida e durável. A Adagio está avançando o ADG20 por meio de vários ensaios clínicos em uma base global.

Sobre a Adagio Therapeutics
A Adagio é uma empresa biofarmacêutica de estágio clínico focada na descoberta, desenvolvimento e comercialização de soluções com base em anticorpos para doenças infecciosas com potencial pandêmico. O portfólio de anticorpos da empresa foi otimizado com os recursos de engenharia de anticorpos líderes da indústria da Adimab, e foi criado para fornecer aos pacientes e médicos uma combinação de potência, amplitude, proteção durável (via extensão de meia-vida), capacidade de fabricação e acessibilidade. O portfólio de anticorpos contra SARS-CoV-2 da Adagio inclui múltiplos anticorpos amplamente neutralizantes não competitivos com epítopos de ligação distintos, liderados por ADG20. A Adagio adquiriu a capacidade de fabricação para a produção do ADG20 com fabricantes terceirizados através da conclusão de ensaios clínicos e, se aprovado pelas autoridades reguladoras, através do lançamento comercial inicial. Para mais informação, visite www.adagiotx.com.

Contatos:
Contato com a Mídia:
Dan Budwick, 1AB
Dan@1abmedia.com

Contato com o Investidor:
Monique Allaire, THRUST Strategic Communications
monique@thrustsc.com

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Olives and Wine: Conagen Makes Accessible Antioxidant Hydroxytyrosol by Fermentation

Bedford, Mass., Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leveraging its robust phenolics platform, Conagen announced the expansion of the health ingredient portfolio of its commercial partner Blue California, with the successful scale-up and commercialization of the powerful natural antioxidant ingredient hydroxytyrosol.With its health-promoting properties, hydroxytyrosol is a phenylethanoid found in olives and wine. Most hydroxytyrosol is naturally found in the juice of olives, minorly in oil. Current hydroxytyrosol ingredients on the market are produced mainly through processed olive juice or are synthetic.

Conagen’s high-purity hydroxytyrosol is virtually colorless and odorless, making it ideal for formulating different products. The hydroxytyrosol is produced by using a cost-effective, sustainable natural fermentation process that has led to the filing of several patent applications, making it a preferred option compared to its olive juice concentrate and synthetic counterparts.

“Hydroxytyrosol is derived from one of our four small-molecule platforms.  The flexibility of our phenolics platform has enabled us to rapidly scale and commercialize hydroxytyrosol and other novel ingredients, highlighting our productive innovation engine and reliability as a strategic service partner,” said Vice President of Innovation, Casey Lippmeier, Ph.D. at Conagen.

Hydroxytyrosol has received increasing attention in the dietary supplement world due to its potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that contribute to the many health benefits of consuming olives. Preclinical and clinical studies demonstrate the positive effects of hydroxytyrosol on heart health and support healthy cholesterol levels.

“The Mediterranean diet is consistently rated as one of the healthiest diets, partially attributed to the use of olives,” Blue California’s Research, Science and Innovation Officer, Linda May-Zhang, Ph.D. “Hydroxytyrosol is one of the most potent antioxidants in olives, and research suggests the great promise of this molecule in healthy aging and potential immune support applications.”

In addition to immune health, emerging research suggests hydroxytyrosol supports heart health, metabolic health, bone health, brain health, and beauty.

Immune health will remain a top priority for consumers as 64% of global consumers are looking to improve their immunity over the next 12 months, reported by FMCG Gurus, Top Ten Trends for 2021, Dec. 2020.

“Conagen is unlocking unprecedented access to sustainable compounds which are only sparingly found in nature,” said Lippmeier. “We expect this and other related compounds will prove useful as cost-effective food or cosmetic ingredients or as additives to other products in which oxidation must be mitigated.”

Using precision fermentation, Conagen produces an extensive portfolio of ingredients, with a recent focus on phenolic antioxidants and natural preservatives such as Rosmarinic acid (Rosavel®), Capsaicin, and the recently announced p-Coumaric Acid (PCA). These ingredients add to a long list of health-promoting flavonoids such as Dihydroquercetin (DHQ), also known as Taxifolin.

Blue California is a provider of solutions and manufacturer/distributor of specialty ingredients, flavors, and fragrances and has a long-standing innovation partnership with Conagen. Conagen focuses on developing sustainable, nature-based ingredients that improve existing options in the market or represent completely novel ingredient solutions.

About Conagen

Conagen is a product-focused synthetic biology R&D company with large-scale manufacturing capabilities. Our scientists and engineers use the latest synthetic biology tools to develop high-quality, sustainable, nature-based products by precision fermentation and enzymatic bioconversion. We focus on the bioproduction of high-value ingredients for food, nutrition, flavors and fragrances, pharmaceutical, and renewable materials industries. www.conagen.com

About Blue California

Blue California is a vertically integrated technology company providing innovative ingredient solutions to global partners. With more than 20 years of innovation success, our ingredients are used in commercial products and applications in nutrition, personal care, healthy aging and wellness, functional food and beverage, and beauty. www.bluecal-ingredients.com

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Ana Arakelian
Conagen
+1.781.271.1588
ana.arakelian@conagen.com
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With More Doses, Uganda Takes Vaccination Drive to Markets

KAMPALA, UGANDA – At a taxi stand by a bustling market in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, traders simply cross a road or two, get a shot in the arm and rush back to their work.

Until this week, vaccination centers were based mostly in hospitals in this East African country that faced a brutal COVID-19 surge earlier this year.

Now, more than a dozen tented sites have been set up in busy areas to make it easier to get inoculated in Kampala as health authorities team up with the Red Cross to administer more than 120,000 doses that will expire at the end of September.

“All of this we could have done earlier, but we were not assured of availability of vaccines,” said Dr. Misaki Wayengera, who leads a team of scientists advising authorities on the pandemic response, speaking of vaccination spots in downtown areas. “Right now, we are receiving more vaccines and we have to deploy them as much as possible.”

In addition to the 128,000 AstraZeneca doses donated by Norway at the end of August, the United Kingdom last month donated nearly 300,000 doses. China recently donated 300,000 doses of its Sinovac vaccine, and on Monday a batch of 647,000 Moderna doses donated by the United States arrived in Uganda.

Suddenly Uganda must accelerate its vaccination drive. The country has sometimes struggled with hesitancy as some question the safety of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine, which is no longer in use in Norway because of concerns over unusual blood clots in a small number of people who received it.

Africa has fully vaccinated just 3.1% of its 1.3 billion people, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health officials across Africa have complained loudly of vaccine inequality and what they see as hoarding in some rich countries. Soon hundreds of millions of vaccine doses will be delivered to Africa through donations of excess doses by wealthy nations or purchases by the African Union.

Africa is aiming to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s population by the end of 2022, a steep target given the global demand for doses. The African Union, representing the continent’s 54 countries, has ordered 400 million Johnson & Johnson doses, but the distribution of those doses will be spread out over 12 months because there simply isn’t enough supply. COVAX, the U.N.-backed program which aims to get vaccines to the neediest people in the world, said this week that its efforts continue “to be hampered by export bans, the prioritization of bilateral deals by manufacturers and countries, ongoing challenges in scaling up production by some key producers, and delays in filing for regulatory approval.”

Uganda, a country of more than 44 million people, has recorded more than 120,000 cases of COVID-19, including just over 3,000 deaths, according to official figures. The country has given 1.65 million shots, but only about 400,000 people have received two doses, according to Wayengera. Uganda’s target is to fully vaccinate up to 5 million of the most vulnerable, including nurses and teachers, as soon as possible.

At the Red Cross tent in downtown Kampala, demand for the jabs was high. By late afternoon only 30 of 150 doses remained, and some who arrived later were told to come back the next day.

“I came here on a sure deal, but it hasn’t happened,” said trader Sulaiman Mivule after a nurse told him he was too late for a shot that day. “I will come back tomorrow. It’s easy for me here because I work in this area.”

Asked why he was so eager to get his first shot, he said, “They are telling us that there could be a third wave. If it comes when we are very vaccinated, maybe it will not hurt us so much. Prevention is better than cure.”

Mivule and others who spoke to the AP said they didn’t want to go to vaccination sites at hospitals because of they expected to find crowds there.

Bernard Ssembatya said he had been driving by when he spotted the Red Cross’s white tent and went in for a jab on the spur of the moment. Afterward, he texted his friends about the opportunity.

“I was getting demoralized by going to health centers,” he said. “You see a lot of people there and you don’t even want to try to enter.”

Yet, despite enthusiasm among many, some still walked away without getting a shot when they were told their preferred vaccine was not yet available.

The one-shot J&J vaccine, still unavailable in Uganda, is frequently asked for, said Jacinta Twinomujuni, a nurse with the Kampala Capital City Authority who monitored the scene.

“I tell them, of course, that we don’t have it,” she said. “And they say, ‘OK, let’s wait for it.’”

Source: Voice of America

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A Tale of 2 COVID Vaccine Clinics: Lines in Kenya, Few Takers in Atlanta

NAIROBI – Several hundred people line up every morning, starting before dawn, on a grassy area outside Nairobi’s largest hospital hoping to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Sometimes the line moves smoothly, while on other days, the staff tells them there’s nothing available and they should come back tomorrow.

Halfway around the world, at a church in Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia, two workers with plenty of vaccine doses waited hours Wednesday for anyone to show up, whiling away the time by listening to music from a laptop. In six hours, one person came through the door.

The dramatic contrast highlights the vast disparity around the world. In richer countries, people can often pick and choose from multiple available vaccines, walk into a site near their homes and get a shot in minutes. Pop-up clinics, such as the one in Atlanta, bring vaccines into rural areas and urban neighborhoods, but it is common for them to get very few takers.

In the developing world, supply is limited and uncertain. Just more than 3% of people across Africa have been fully vaccinated, and health officials and citizens often have little idea what will be available from one day to the next. More vaccines have been flowing in recent weeks, but the World Health Organization’s director in Africa said Thursday that the continent will get 25% fewer doses than anticipated by the end of the year, in part because of the rollout of booster shots in wealthier counties such as the United States.

Bidian Okoth said he spent more than three hours in line at a Nairobi hospital, only to be told to go home because there weren’t enough doses. But a friend who traveled to the U.S. got a shot almost immediately after his arrival there with a vaccine of his choice, “like candy,” he said.

“We’re struggling with what time in the morning we need to wake up to get the first shot. Then you hear people choosing their vaccines. That’s super, super excessive,” he said.

Okoth said his uncle died from COVID-19 in June and had given up twice on getting vaccinated because of the length of the lines, even though he was eligible because of his age. The death jolted Okoth, a health advocate, into seeking a dose for himself.

He stopped at one hospital so often on his way to work that a doctor “got tired of seeing me” and told Okoth he would call him when doses were available. Late last month, after a new donation of vaccines arrived from Britain, he got his shot.

The disparity comes as the U.S. is moving closer to offering booster shots to large segments of the population even as it struggles to persuade Americans to get vaccinated in the first place. President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered sweeping new federal vaccine requirements for as many as 100 million Americans, including private-sector employees, as the country faces the surging COVID-19 delta variant.

About 53% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, and the country is averaging about 145,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day, along with about 1,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Africa has had more than 7.9 million confirmed cases, including more than 200,000 deaths, and the highly infectious delta variant recently drove a surge in new cases as well.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters Thursday that “we have not seen enough science” to drive decisions on when to administer booster shots.

“Without that, we are gambling,” he said, and urged countries to send doses to countries facing “vaccine famine” instead.

In the U.S., vaccines are easy to find, but some people are hesitant to get them.

At the church in northwest Atlanta, a nonprofit group offered the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines for free without an appointment from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. But site manager Riley Erickson spent much of the day waiting in an air-conditioned room full of empty chairs, though the group had reached out to neighbors and the church had advertised the location to its large congregation.

Erickson, with the disaster relief organization CORE, said the vaccination rate in the area was low and he wasn’t surprised by the small turnout. The one person who showed up was a college student.

“When you put the effort into going into areas where there’s less interest, that’s kind of the result,” he said. His takeaway, however, was that CORE needed to spend more time in the community.

Margaret Herro, CORE’s Georgia director, said the group has seen an uptick in vaccinations at its pop-up sites in recent weeks amid a COVID-19 surge fueled by the delta variant and the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. It also has gone to meatpacking plants and other work locations, where turnout is better, and it plans to focus more on those places, Herro said.

In Nairobi, Okoth believes there should be a global commitment to equity in the administration of vaccines so everyone has a basic level of immunity as quickly as possible.

“If everyone at least gets a first shot, I don’t think anyone will care if others get even six booster shots,” he said.

Source: Voice of America

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VOA Interview: Defense Secretary Says US Safer Today Than in 2001

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says the United States is safer now than it was 20 years ago. Speaking in an interview with Voice of America’s Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb on the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, Austin said U.S. defense capabilities and strike abilities have evolved and “increased by orders of magnitude.”

Austin said the U.S. will continue to “pay attention” to the threats as they evolve in Afghanistan, but that effort would not prevent the U.S. from focusing on its pacing threat, China.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for speaking with the Voice of America today. Today is a very special day. It’s the day that we stop and pause and remember those who died 20 years ago. And reflecting on that, is the United States safer today than it was in 9/11?”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin: “Well, if you just look at the capabilities that have evolved since, since 2001, in terms of our ability to collect and to analyze and to track various threats around the globe, our capabilities have increased by orders of magnitude. Our ability to strike has increased by orders of magnitude. What’s most important is that as a government, we operate a lot better with any interagency in terms of our ability to share information, our ability to coordinate and deconflict. So, because of all of those things, I would say, yeah, we are safer.”

VOA: “When you talk about that information, so, let me go back to the withdrawal. In April, the intelligence was showing that the Taliban could likely take over Kabul around December, late December, but by July that timeline had shrunk to late September. So, why were you so surprised when they took over in mid-August?”

Austin: “I think what you’ve heard us say is that there were, the intelligence estimate provided a range of possibilities, and those, they changed over time. We’ll go back and look at all these things in the future as we, as we assess what happened and assess the things that we could possibly, as an interagency, do better. And, but, until we complete that process, I won’t, I won’t hazard to provide any kind of assessment.”

VOA: “Reflecting, do you think you should have paused the withdrawal when you started getting the intelligence in July that the collapse was more imminent?”

Austin: “Well, again, don’t want to get into any hypotheticals or, you know, any, any type of assessments here. I think we owe it to ourselves to do a very deliberate and detailed assessment, not only for the military but across the interagency.”

VOA: “When I was speaking to some of the troops from 10th Mountain Division, they wished they could have gotten to HKIA. They wished they could have gotten to the airport sooner and had a few more people. Do you think that the evacuation should have started sooner?”

Austin: “Again, I think our young men and women that were a part of that operation did a tremendous job. And I think once they arrived, they, and once they secured the airport, they had to defend the airport, they had to evacuate 124,000 people. Of that 124,000, some 6,000 Americans. And we still are, the State Department is still focused on evacuating Americans as we speak. So, you know, I think, I think our young men and women just did a tremendous job. As you heard me say, I think it was historic because of the size of the airlift, and it certainly was heroic in terms of their actions.”

VOA: “But do you wish you would have started sooner?”

Austin: “Again, you know, I, we will go back and assess what we did when we did it, but you know, we made our decisions based upon, you know, the intelligence and the activities that were going on at that time.”

VOA: “We have been tied to Iraq and Afghanistan because of 9/11, and you actually oversaw the withdrawal forces from Iraq only to see U.S. troops return there three years later. Why would you oversee the withdrawal from Afghanistan when there were similar conditions in Afghanistan as there were in Iraq when it comes to terrorists?”

Austin: “I think you’re, actually, two. First of all, we never completely left Iraq. As you know, we kept an element in Iraq that was focused on training the Iraqis. But as you compare the two scenarios, they’re completely different. They’re different people, they’re different, facing different adversaries. So, I don’t think it’s fair to compare them head-to-head.”

VOA: “So, you don’t see the similarities on the ground now that you saw in Iraq?”

Austin: “There will be similarities in every military operation, but there will be clear distinctions in those operations based upon the threat, based upon the forces available, and based upon the allies that you’re working with, you know, the people that you’re supporting.”

VOA: “Let’s talk about where the counterterror war goes now. So, what area of the globe do you believe that terrorists have the greatest desire and capability to attempt to strike the homeland?”

Austin: “Great question. I think what you’ve seen and what you know to be true is that transnational terrorists will look for ungoverned spaces to go to, to operate out of. And so, everywhere on the globe where we see, you know, breakdown in governance or weak governance or areas that are ungoverned, we can expect that, at some point, that there’s a possibility that terrorist activity will take root in those places.”

VOA: “And so, if you had to, you said you’ve mentioned some areas to us in the briefing room. So, if you had to pick one area where the focus seems to be most intent on attacking the U.S. homeland, where, where is that right now?”

Austin: “Well, I certainly don’t want to get into any intelligence assessments here, but, I mean, we see terrorist, transnational terrorist activity in a lot of places. We see, certainly in Africa, we see in Somalia, we see a number of organizations looking to operate freely there.”

VOA: “Are you looking to put troops back into Somalia?”

Austin: “Again, I won’t — I don’t have any troop announcements to make in this forum.”

VOA: “OK, and let’s talk about, because we’re still bogged down in Afghanistan, we don’t have troops there, but we are still bogged down with the counterterror war, so won’t that divert your attention away from China and Russia for at least some time?”

Austin: “We know that we have to maintain a focus, in order to defend this country, which is my top priority, we have to maintain a focus on countering transnational terrorism and preventing terrorists from exporting terror from any place on the globe to our homeland, and we will remain focused on that with a laser focus.”

VOA: “So, yes, they will, they will bog us down for some time?”

Austin: “No, that’s, that’s not bogging us down, that’s making sure that we pay attention to the threats as they evolve, but it won’t prevent us from doing what we need to do to focus on our major elements there, our major challenges there. And you’ve heard me say that China remains a, our pacing challenge going forward here.”

VOA: “And I want to ask you, because you reached out today — it is 9/11 — you reached out to the families who died with your remarks today. What would you like to say to the Afghans who fought beside us, who joined us in this war, post 9/11, those who lost loved ones in this war, those who are still worried about the future?”

Austin: “We’re certainly, we’re grateful for their help in our efforts to help improve the conditions in their country. And, and so, you know, their partnership, that those people who served as interpreters and facilitated our operations, I certainly want to say thank you to them, and remind them that we will remain grateful going forward.”

VOA: “Well, Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for speaking with Voice of America.”

Source: Voice of America

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UNHCR: Cameroon Refugee Needs Increasing, Means Limited

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON – The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR says Cameroon continues to be one of the world’s most neglected displacement crises, with refugee needs increasing far more quickly than are available resources. The central African country is home to about 500,000 refugees, most of them having fled the troubled Central African Republic and Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria.

Raouf Mazou, the UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for operations, says that this week he met with humanitarian agencies and Cameroonian government officials, including Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, to look for ways to reinforce humanitarian actions to help displaced persons and refugees.

In August, countries surrounding Lake Chad reported an increase in the number of people displaced in Chad, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Niger.

Cameroon said at least 1,500 former Boko Haram militants have arrived on its northern border with Nigeria since May, when the Islamist group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, was declared killed.

Cameroon also reported that more than 40 villages were razed and 10,000 citizens fled northern Cameroon to Chad after a violent conflict between herders and fishers in August.

Mazou visited Cameroon’s Far North region on the border with Nigeria and Chad, where he met with representatives of some 4,000 displaced people in the northern border village of Zamai. Mazou said they desperately need civil registration documents so they can integrate into their new communities.

“If there is one thing that is essential, it is the issue of civil registration. They kept on repeating the same thing, they kept on saying our children are here, they cannot go to school. When we asked, ‘Why can’t they go to school?’ one of the key reasons why [is that] we [displaced persons] don’t have documents for them [displaced children]. Of course, there is also the issue of the cost. Even if primary education is free, people do have to pay an amount of money, but the issue of documentation for them is absolutely crucial,” Mazou said.

Speaking to local media, including Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV, Mazou said there are more than a million displaced Cameroonians in the country.

The UNHCR says Cameroon, with a population of 26 million, is also home to about 500,000 refugees and asylum-seekers.

Among the refugees, 120,000 are Nigerian citizens fleeing Boko Haram terrorism, and 321,000 are fleeing violence caused by the political tensions in the Central African Republic. Cameroon says other refugees are from Chad, Senegal, Mali and Niger.

Xavier Bourgois, the UNHCR’s spokesperson in Cameroon, says the agency has limited means to help people seeking refuge.

He said the UNHCR has only 44% of the $100 million it needs to provide emergency humanitarian services for refugees and displaced Cameroonians and to assist host communities that share their already stretched resources with displaced people.

In February, Cameroon said 5,000 of the 120,000 Nigerians, mostly women and children, who fled across the border fleeing from Boko Haram terrorists have agreed to voluntarily return to Nigeria. The UNHCR says about 4,500 Nigerians have returned. Those remaining are still worried about their security should they return to Nigeria.

Several thousand Central African Republic refugees have also returned to their home country. Cameroon says a majority are still scared of insecurity and violence after the December general elections there.

Source: Voice of America