Hepatitis A News and Research

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Hepatitis A (formerly known as ''infectious hepatitis'') is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water.

St. Vincent develops the first-ever HIV educational widget

Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) today unveiled a novel Web-based technology to rapidly instruct health care providers throughout New York State about HIV diagnosis and prevention.

10 Sep 2009

FDA removes clinical hold on HEPLISAV hepatitis B vaccine

Dynavax Technologies Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed the clinical hold for the HEPLISAVTM Investigational New Drug (IND) application in individuals with chronic kidney disease.

10 Sep 2009

BioTrends Research Group ranked by Philadelphia 100 for the second consecutive time

For the second year in a row, BioTrends Research Group, Inc. has been ranked as one of the fastest-growing, privately-held companies in the Philadelphia region by the Philadelphia 100, a joint project of the Wharton Small Business Development Center, the Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Business Journal.

10 Sep 2009

Phase II trial of ANA598 commenced by Anadys Pharmaceuticals

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDS) announced today that dosing has begun in a Phase II trial of ANA598 in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study will evaluate ANA598 over 12 weeks, taken in combination with pegylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin, in treatment naive HCV patients. ANA598 is an investigational, oral, non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor.

9 Sep 2009

HCV treatment study reveals low relapse rate of Pegetron

Recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the largest prospective study of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatments Pegetron and Pegasys RBV (R) found both treatments equal in achieving sustained viral response. The study also found that Pegetron had a significantly lower relapse rate and is a safe and effective treatment option which has shown long term viral eradication.

9 Sep 2009

INSPIRE Phase I/IIa study data to be presented at ICAAC

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that data from an interim analysis of its INSPIRE Phase I/IIa study of HIV-infected patients with low CD4 T cell counts treated with a three injection cycle of the Company’s investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), will be presented during an oral late breaker session at the 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), to be held September 12-15, 2009, in San Francisco, CA.

9 Sep 2009

Physicians to educate Congress on the importance of reducing viral hepatitis

The National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) is hosting a briefing, "The Experts' Perspective: Gaps and Strategies in the Hepatitis Crisis." "Leading hepatitis physicians, one of whom is a Congressman, will be on the hill today to educate Congress on the importance of developing a strategy to reduce the significant morbidity and mortality from end-stage liver disease and liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C in the United States," said Martha Saly, Director of NVHR.

9 Sep 2009

Genetic risk factor involved in cystic fibrosis discovered

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a genetic risk factor for severe liver disease in people with cystic fibrosis. Those who carry a particular variant of the SERPINA1 gene (also known as alpha-1-antitrypsin or alpha-1-antiprotease) are five times more likely to develop cirrhosis and other liver complications than patients who carry the normal version of the gene.

9 Sep 2009

Biomagnetics Diagnostics deploys IOBS testing technology

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and malaria detection, today announced its entry into the Integrated Optical Biosensor System (IOBS) market. IOBS are a relatively new classification of pathogen detection equipment which use advanced fiber optic-based technology to detect a wide variety of human and animal pathogens.

9 Sep 2009

Rise in primary liver cancer cases attributed to increased alcohol consumption

Cases of primary liver cancer have tripled in the last 30 years according to statistics published today by Cancer Research UK.

7 Sep 2009

Positive impact on medication adherence through Aetna's care management program

Aetna announced today results of an analysis from the first half of 2009, demonstrating an average medication adherence of over 95 percent for its members taking Specialty medications. Disease states evaluated in Aetna’s analysis include: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, Crohn's disease, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), psoriasis, Hepatitis C and asthma.

4 Sep 2009

Medtronic's COPE-HCV clinical study commences

Medtronic, Inc., today reported the initiation and first enrollments of patients in COPE-HCV (COntinuous Interferon Delivery via the Medtronic Paradigm Pump Infusion System Clinical Evaluation for Chronic HCV), the company’s first-ever clinical study using an external pump infusion system to treat patients with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

3 Sep 2009

Government, medical and community experts to discuss about prevention and detection of viral hepatitis

To address this public health challenge, government, medical and community experts will meet September 10-11 in Washington, D.C. to plan an improved national response to viral hepatitis. The conference "The Dawn of a New Era: Transforming our Domestic Response to Hepatitis B & C" will feature keynote addresses, panel discussions and scientific poster sessions focused on enhancing the prevention and detection of viral hepatitis and improving care for people who are already living with the disease.

2 Sep 2009

Retail clinics offer better quality care at lower costs than other venues

A new study by Rand Corporation, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, concludes retail clinics provide quality care at lower costs and equal or better quality than other urgent care options.

1 Sep 2009

Sexual impairment common among men undergoing chronic hepatitis C treatment

Sexual impairment is common among men with chronic hepatitis C undergoing antiviral therapy, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

1 Sep 2009

Caucasians have a higher rate of HBV recurrence compared to Asian Americans and African Americans

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1.5 to 2 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Prior studies have shown there to be significant racial differences in access to and outcomes of liver transplantation. Recently, doctors from across the U.S. conducted a multicenter retrospective-prospective study of the waitlist status and outcomes of liver transplant patients with HBV infection.

28 Aug 2009

Lakewood-Amedex to speed up development of its broad spectrum anti-influenza product into clinical studies

Lakewood-Amedex Inc., (L-A), the anti-infectives biopharmaceutical company developing a unique portfolio of anti-bacterial and anti-viral products including NuBiotics, a novel family of synthetic anti-bacterial compounds, and anti-viral products against hepatitis, HIV and influenza, announced today that it is accelerating development of its broad spectrum anti-influenza product into clinical studies.

27 Aug 2009

Novelos Therapeutics enters into a definitive agreement with Purdue Pharma to raise funds

Novelos Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB: NVLT), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapeutics to treat cancer and hepatitis, today announced that Novelos entered into a definitive agreement with Purdue Pharma L.P., an existing investor, to sell 13,636,364 shares of its common stock and warrants, expiring on December 31, 2015, to purchase an aggregate of approximately 4,772,728 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.66 per share, for gross proceeds of $9 million.

27 Aug 2009

Relationship between the CD14 variation and the formation of portal lymphoid aggregates discovered

It is still unknown why the natural history of chronic disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV), which currently infects 3% of the world's population, varies from mild in some patients to rapidly progressing in others. Age, sex, alcohol consumption and liver sensitivity to gut-derived bacterial endotoxins, were the early factors defined to enhance the risk of fibrosis progression.

27 Aug 2009

UT Southwestern awarded $763,000 as grant to expand studies of Peregrine's anti-PS antibodies

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM) today announced that the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded a two-year, $763,000 grant to Philip Thorpe, Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for research expanding its studies of anti-phosphatidylserine (anti-PS) antibodies as potential treatments for viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) infections.

26 Aug 2009