Working hours during Carnival at FIOCRUZ
On Friday (February 13), the eve of Carnival, Fiocruz will operate remotely.
During Carnival week, there will be optional working hours on Monday (February 16) and Tuesday (February 17).
On Wednesday (February 18), work will be remote from 2 p.m. onwards.
These measures do not apply to essential services, which will operate normally. The Fiocruz Daycare Center and Nust/CST will not be open for in-person service between February 13 and February 18.

Working hours during Carnival at ReBEC/FIOCRUZ

SYSTEM AND CHAT SERVICE REBEC@
The ReBEC platform remains in operation 24 hours a day, every day of the week, with service provided by AI ReBEC@. 

CHAT AND HUMAN SERVICE
Human service follows the special operating hours determined by Fiocruz for Carnival. On Friday (February 13), the eve of Carnival, remote working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. During Carnival week, optional working on February 16 and 17. On Wednesday, February 18, remote working from 2 p.m. Human service hours will return to normal from Thursday, February 19.

PRIORITY SERVICES

The Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC) presents the new fast tracks for clinical research and observational studies on INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES and on NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES (NTDs). Fast-track can reduce the normal approval period for clinical trials to less than 48 hours, if the documentation, information and any mandatory changes requested are provided by the registrant.

The already existing fast-tracks and the attendance to other studies will not be interrupted. Priority care is granted with a view to accelerating clinical research in epidemiological emergency situations and/or studies with the potential to reduce socioeconomic inequalities, keeping the perspective aligned with the forefront of ethics and transparency, diplomacy in health, scientific collaboration and diversity and specificities of recruitment and health care.

FAST-TRACKS IN OPERATION:

I - Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Communities, Human Migration and Refugee Movements – clinical research and observational studies dedicated to or preferably addressing traditional communities (quilombola, caiçara, faxinalense, among others), Indigenous peoples (within or outside legally demarcated territories), and refugee groups, taking into account the specificities established by regulation, on a case-by-case basis.

II - Neglected Tropical Diseases – Leprosy, Tuberculosis, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Scabies, Chagas disease, Intestinal parasitoses, Viral hepatitis, Trachoma, Onchocerciasis, Human rabies transmitted by dogs.

III - National and International Public Health Emergencies – Mpox, Covid-19.

IV - Arboviruses – Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, Malaria, Yellow fever.

V - WHO Prioritized Pathogens for Latin America – Studies dealing with World Health Organization prioritized pathogens for Latin America, as listed in the document "PATHOGENS PRIORITIZATION - A SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK FOR EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC RESEARCH PREPAREDNESS" (Health Emergencies Programme, 2024) – Lassa fever, Cholera, Black Death (Plague), Bacillary dysentery or Shigellosis, Salmonella, Pneumonia, Urinary tract infection, MERS-CoV, SARS, Ebola virus (EVE), Marburg virus (MVE), Ebola virus (EVE) Sudan subtype, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Influenza A H1, Influenza A H2, Influenza A H3, Avian influenza (Influenza A H5N1), Avian influenza (Influenza A H6), Avian influenza H7 (Avian influenza H7), Avian influenza H10 or Avian influenza H10, Nipah disease, Viral hemorrhagic disease, Poliomyelitis, Hand-foot-and-mouth disease, Herpangina, Viral meningitis, Smallpox, Mpox, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE).

VI - WHO Prioritized Prototype Pathogens for Latin America – Studies dealing with World Health Organization prioritized prototype pathogens for Latin America, as listed in the document "PATHOGENS PRIORITIZATION - A SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK FOR EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC RESEARCH PREPAREDNESS" (Health Emergencies Programme, 2024) – Recombinant mastadenovirus, Mastadenovirus blackbeardi serotype 14, Mammarenavirus juninense, Mammarenavirus lujoense, Mamastrovirus virginiaense, Orthobornavirus bornaense, Orthoflavivirus encephalitidis, Orthoflavivirus nilense, Orthohepadnavirus hominoidae genotype C, Paslahepevirus balayani genotype 3, Protoparvovirus carnivoran, Orthobunyavirus oropoucheense, Phlebovirus riftense, Orthopicobirnavirus hominis, Enterovirus alphacoxsackie 71, Enterovirus deconjuncti 68, Metapneumovirus hominis, Orthopoxvirus vaccinia, Genus Vesiculovirus, Genus Rotavirus, Orthoreovirus mammalis.

VII - Studies on the impacts of climate change, the effects of scientific denialism, and health misinformation -The physical, mental, and social consequences of environmental and climate changes on human populations; The impact of extreme weather events and environmental degradation on infectious, chronic, or emerging diseases; The influence of denialist narratives and misinformation in Health on adherence to preventive measures, vaccination, treatments, and risk behaviors, as well as the physical and mental outcomes for human beings and populations.

INSTRUCTIONS:

We recommend reading the Registrant Handbook. Material available at LINK.

1. Register or log in and normally fill out the forms in Portuguese and English. For English, in case of difficulty, use the Google Translate tool (or another free translation tool).
2. Attach the mandatory ethics committee documentation and submit the form.
3. Register the service number on your Whatsapp. Send a message with your name and login. IT IS NOT NECESSARY NOR RECOMMENDED TO SEND YOUR PASSWORD.
4. A reviewer will respond to you. Choose the service modality: chat, audio recordings or voice call by appointment.
5. Your form will be proofread in both languages. Follow the remaining guidelines to finalize the approval.

CONTACTS:

Support is online, via chat, dedicated telephone line (see phone number below) and WhatsApp, from 9 am to 5 pm (Brasília time).

Administrative, priority and/or urgent matters outside office hours: plantao.rebec@gmail.com
Line 1: +55 21 97203-4750

ABOUT REBEC:

The Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC) is a free access virtual platform for recording experimental and non-experimental studies carried out on human beings and conducted in Brazilian territory, by Brazilian and foreign researchers. ReBEC is a joint project of the Ministry of Health (DECIT/MS), the Pan American Health Organization (OPAS) and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ). ReBEC's Executive Committee is composed of the aforementioned institutions and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA).

03/03/2026 | Lisa Henderson | Informa Life Sciences/Bio Xconomy

https://www.bioxconomy.com/partnering/china-biotech-continues-its-growth-trajectory 

Yao Zhong, vice president general manager for ICON China Mainland and Hong Kong, discusses latest survey results on the Chinese biotech market.

Released late last year, ICON Biotech’s 2025 China biotech sector survey report offers insights into the country’s innovation, which has received even more attention over the past two years. According to the report, therapeutic innovation coming from China is eclipsing that of the US. Since ICON Biotech first conducted a global survey of biotech in 2023, China has overtaken the US in the number of clinical trials. 

Funding optimism

While eyes for innovation are on China, its funding sources are reported by respondents as follows: partnerships with large pharmaceutical organizations (59%), venture capital firms (49%), and government grants or public funding (36%). 

Also noted in the report was the overseas out-licensing of 93 Chinese products in the first eight months of 2025. 

Zhong noted that business confidence is based on a variety of factors including Government support through policies like the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, and the October 28, 2025, release of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, both of which target biotechnology development. 

Zhong also pointed to the large unmet medical needs and population size in China, noting that companies with advanced technology platforms feel more confident. He said, “If one biotech company owns their advanced technology platform, definitely this gives them more confidence to attract investors’ interest to them.” 

03/03/2026  |  Clinical Trials Arena/Caidya

https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/sponsored/dermatology-trials-by-the-numbers-key-trends-and-benchmarks-for-2026/ 

Dermatology is a diverse and dynamic frontier of modern clinical research. Researchers must be prepared to react flexibly and speedily to a rising tide of innovation in the field

Dermatology – spanning chronic inflammatory disease, infection, wound healing, pigment disorders, hair loss and rare genetic conditions – is nothing if not a broad area of clinical research. That breadth is also contributing to its status as one of the most vibrant fields, both in growth and overall volume, in all of medicine: GlobalData’s clinical trial database suggests more than 16,000 dermatology trials were either completed, ongoing, or planned at the end of 2025. The tempo has quickened. Trial starts have rocketed over the past decade, peaking over the past year.

Many programs are moving at the same time and at rapid speed, from small topical studies to complex, multi-country development plans. Geography is shifting too. By December 2025, the Asia-Pacific region had seen a nearly five-fold increase in dermatology trials compared to a decade earlier, and accounted for nearly 8,000 such trials overall, around the same quantity as North America and Europe combined. Sponsors have widened their footprint to match where disease burden is greatest, where investigator networks are deepening and where trial infrastructure has become more capable. For example dermatophytosis, a fungal infection, is expected to reach over 830 million infections by 2029, with the highest prevalence in India and China. Big numbers like that pull research toward the places where patients are, and toward the practical problems that determine whether a…

03/02/2026 | Marina Klein Telles | Expansão.co

https://expansao.co/fiocruz-inicia-estudos-clinicos-com-terapia-genica-inovadora-para-atrofia-muscular-espinhal/ 

In partnership with the Ministry of Health (MS), the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), and Casa dos Raros, Fiocruz has begun the first human clinical study of GB221, a gene therapy product that integrates the new generation of this class of products, aimed at treating Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1 (SMA1), the most severe form of the disease. The clinical research represents an advance in the development of gene therapies, one of the most innovative frontiers of precision public health, focusing on the Unified Health System (SUS).

The project is conducted by Fiocruz in partnership with Gemma Biotherapeutics, Inc. (GEMMABio), the technology holder and sponsor of the study within the scope of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa); Intrials Pesquisa Clínica Ltda; Casa dos Raros; and HCPA.

The announcement took place on Thursday (26), in Brasília, during an MS activity alluding to World Rare Disease Day (28). SMA is a rare disease that manifests itself in the first months of life and is caused by an alteration in the SMN1 gene, responsible for producing a protein essential for the functioning of neurons responsible for controlling movements. The absence of the protein causes progressive loss of muscle strength and can compromise the survival of children in the first years of life.

New technological frontier in Brazil
The ongoing clinical study is part of the process of incorporating this technology in the context of the Fiocruz Strategy for Advanced Therapies. The goal is to provide the country with the scientific, technological, production, and healthcare infrastructure…

03/02/2026 | DGRJ Editorial Staff | Diário da Guanabara

https://dgrj.com.br/brasil/saude/avanco-nos-eua-promete-novo-tratamento-para-espinha-bifida-com-celulas-tronco 

Innovative fetal therapy shows promising results in spinal cord recovery in babies with myelomeningocele.

Researchers in the United States have announced important progress in the treatment of open spina bifida, a serious congenital malformation that affects the closure of the spinal column and spinal canal during gestation.

The condition, called myelomeningocele, can impair the baby's movements and bladder and bowel control, as well as being linked to excessive fluid accumulation in the brain.

Traditionally, spina bifida is corrected through fetal surgery, but about 60% of newborns continue to face difficulties walking or moving independently.

The new approach, developed by fetal and neonatal surgeon Diana Farmer of the University of California, uses placental stem cells and has shown promising results: all treated babies were born without complications and showed signs of spinal cord recovery. The findings were published in The Lancet on Saturday (February 28).

Before human trials, the technique was applied to sheep with spina bifida, and all animals treated with stem cells were able to walk and stand, unlike the group that underwent only conventional surgery.

Subsequently, six pregnant women received the therapy between the 24th and 25th weeks of gestation, and the babies were born around the 34th week without infections, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, or signs of tumor growth. Posterior fossa herniation, which blocks the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, also showed signs of reversal.

“This is an important step towards a new type of fetal therapy that not only repairs but can…

03/02/2026 | USP Journal

https://jornal.usp.br/podcast/curioso-por-ciencia-100-pesquisa-aponta-biomarcador-por-imagem-associado-a-agressividade-do-cancer-de-prostata/ 

Study shows that indirect signs of low tumor oxygenation can be captured by imaging and aid therapeutic decisions

The Curious About Science podcast, in its 100th episode, presents the results of research at the Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Medicine (FMRP) of USP that revealed the possibility of identifying more aggressive prostate tumors through magnetic resonance imaging. The study investigated tumor hypoxia, a condition characterized by low oxygenation inside the tumor and associated with faster disease progression and resistance to treatment.

Hypoxia alters the structure and function of tumor tissue by modifying cell density and the organization of blood vessels. These changes interfere with the movement of water molecules within the tumor, a phenomenon that can be detected by advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

Based on this premise, the research analyzed intravoxel incoherent movement, an imaging parameter that reflects the microscopic dynamics of water in the tissue. The hypothesis was that alterations in this movement could serve as an indirect marker of tumor oxygenation.

To test this relationship, scans of 67 patients with prostate cancer were evaluated. The data obtained by magnetic resonance imaging were compared with laboratory analyses of the tumor, allowing verification of the presence of hypoxic areas and their association with aggressiveness characteristics.

The results showed that tumors with lower oxygenation tend to exhibit more aggressive behavior. Furthermore, the imaging technique was able to indicate relevant differences between tumors with…