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Influenza A (H5N1) virus – also called “H5N1 virus” – is an influenza A virus subtype that occurs mainly in birds, is highly contagious among birds, and can be deadly to them. H5N1 virus does not usually infect people, but infections with these viruses have occurred in humans. Most of these cases have resulted from people having direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces.
Medicago gets Health Canada clearance to initiate Phase II clinical trial for H5N1 vaccine

Medicago gets Health Canada clearance to initiate Phase II clinical trial for H5N1 vaccine

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced it has received clearance by Health Canada to initiate its Phase II dose-sparing clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H5N1 vaccine"). [More]
NanoViricides files Orphan Drug application with FDA for DengueCide

NanoViricides files Orphan Drug application with FDA for DengueCide

NanoViricides, Inc. announced today that it has filed an Orphan Drug application with the Office of Orphan Product Development of the US FDA for DengueCide, its drug candidate for the treatment of dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever. [More]
Medicago reports positive interim results from preclinical trial for H7 VLP vaccine candidate

Medicago reports positive interim results from preclinical trial for H7 VLP vaccine candidate

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today reported positive interim results from a preclinical trial for an H7N9 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H7 vaccine"). [More]
Researchers develop new gene therapy to thwart potential influenza pandemic

Researchers develop new gene therapy to thwart potential influenza pandemic

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have developed a new gene therapy to thwart a potential influenza pandemic. Specifically, investigators in the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, directed by James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, demonstrated that a single dose of an adeno-associated virus expressing a broadly neutralizing flu antibody into the nasal passages of mice and ferrets gives them complete protection and substantial reductions in flu replication when exposed to lethal strains of H5N1 and H1N1 flu virus. [More]
Sinovac Beijing receives GMP certificate for its proprietary vaccines

Sinovac Beijing receives GMP certificate for its proprietary vaccines

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced that Sinovac Beijing, the main operating subsidiary company of Sinovac, obtained the Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices for Pharmaceutical Products (GMP Certificate) from the China State and Food Administration (CFDA) for its proprietary vaccines, its Haidian district bulk production plants, and its Changping filing and packaging facility. [More]
New, improved drugs can boost body's natural flu killer system

New, improved drugs can boost body's natural flu killer system

A known difficulty in fighting influenza (flu) is the ability of the flu viruses to mutate and thus evade various medications that were previously found to be effective. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have shown recently that another, more promising, approach is to focus on improving drugs that boost the body's natural flu killer system. [More]
iBio announces production of vaccine candidate for new H7N9 influenza virus

iBio announces production of vaccine candidate for new H7N9 influenza virus

iBio, Inc. today announced the production of a vaccine candidate for the newly emerged H7N9 influenza virus by an independent third party laboratory using the iBioLaunch platform. [More]
A*STAR, Cytos Biotechnology provide update on Phase 1 clinical trial of H1N1 influenza vaccine

A*STAR, Cytos Biotechnology provide update on Phase 1 clinical trial of H1N1 influenza vaccine

Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research and Switzerland's Cytos Biotechnology AG today announced that the first healthy volunteer has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial with their H1N1 influenza vaccine candidate based on Cytos' proprietary bacteriophage Qbeta virus-like particle technology. [More]

New VLP vaccine candidate produced for H7N9 virus

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced that it has successfully produced a new VLP vaccine candidate for the H7N9 virus that is responsible for the current influenza outbreak in China. [More]

Researchers call H7N9 bird flu strain 'one of the most lethal'; first case outside China reported by Taiwan

Chinese scientists have confirmed for the first time that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in China has been transmitted to humans from chickens. [More]

Nature editorial, opinion piece address H7N9 virus

The journal Nature published an editorial and opinion piece on the emergence of the H7N9 avian influenza strain. [More]

New strain of bird flu poses pandemic threat

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling the new strain of H7H9 influenza virus "lethal" and The University of Kansas Hospital is preparing now for any potential cases. [More]
H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

Scientists in China have confirmed for the first time that the influenza A H7N9 virus has transmitted from birds—specifically, chicken at a wet poultry market—to humans, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet. [More]

Chinese bird flu continues to spread

The H7N9 avian influenza outbreak in China is continuing to spread, although authorities believe that the large majority of those affected did not become infected via human-to-human contact. [More]
To avoid difficulties experienced during SARS epidemic, China must remain transparent in H7N9 efforts

To avoid difficulties experienced during SARS epidemic, China must remain transparent in H7N9 efforts

"On this 10th anniversary of China's April 2003 admission that the SARS virus had spread across that country ... Beijing finds itself once again in a terrible position via-a-vis the microbial and geopolitical worlds," Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece, noting the emergence of a new strain of bird flu, H7N9, in the country. [More]
SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generates protective antibody levels in phase 1 study

SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generates protective antibody levels in phase 1 study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generated protective antibody levels comparable to a current FDA-approved seasonal influenza vaccine against a currently circulating influenza strain. [More]
Clinical data of EV71 vaccine for prevention of HFMD presented at World Vaccine Congress & Expo

Clinical data of EV71 vaccine for prevention of HFMD presented at World Vaccine Congress & Expo

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of vaccines in China, announced today that Fengcai Zhu, Deputy Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, presented data regarding Sinovac's proprietary enterovirus 71 ("EV71") vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease at the 13th Annual World Vaccine Congress & Expo, taking place from April 16-18, 2013, in Washington D.C. [More]

New assays are effective in managing patients with influenza virus infection

Over 40,000 people die each year in the United States from influenza-related diseases. In patients whose immune systems are compromised, antiviral therapy may be life-saving, but it needs to be initiated quickly. It is therefore crucial to diagnose and type the influenza rapidly. [More]
IDRI, Medicago announce positive Phase I clinical trial results for avian flu pandemic vaccine

IDRI, Medicago announce positive Phase I clinical trial results for avian flu pandemic vaccine

IDRI, a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today reported positive interim results from a Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate. [More]

Medicago, IDRI to present Phase I clinical results of H5N1 vaccine at World Vaccine Congress

IDRI, a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced that they will be presenting positive interim Phase I clinical results for their H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate "H5N1 vaccine" at the World Vaccine Congress. [More]