Herpes Simplex Virus 2 News and Research

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Herpes Simplex Virus-2 is a sexually transmitted viral infection, which often produces painful sores, usually in the genital area. Once infected, an individual may carry the virus and be subject to recurrent bouts of infection. Some estimate that as many as 20 percent of the adult population in the United States has been exposed to the virus.

Experimental vaccine for HSV-2 infection reduces rate of viral shedding at 6 months

Updated Phase 1/2a results with GEN-003, a vaccine candidate under development by Genocea Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNCA) for the treatment of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection, showed the experimental vaccine to generate highly significant reductions in both the number of clinical lesion days and rate of viral shedding at six months after the final vaccine dose.

27 Mar 2014

Agenus reports net loss attributable to common stockholders of $5.8 million for Q4 2013

Agenus Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of immuno-oncology candidates, including checkpoint modulators (CPMs), heat shock protein vaccines and adjuvants, today announced its financial results and business highlights for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013.

5 Mar 2014

Women using DMPA injection more likely to acquire HIV than women using NET-EN

Women who used an injectable contraceptive called DMPA were more likely to acquire HIV than women using a similar product called NET-EN, according to a secondary analysis of data from a large HIV prevention trial called VOICE, researchers from the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network reported today at the 21st Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston.

5 Mar 2014

Researcher receives Pioneer Award for engineering herpes simplex virus gene delivery systems

Joseph C. Glorioso, III, PhD (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA) devoted much of his research career to developing herpes viruses as efficient vectors for delivering therapeutic genes into cells.

20 Feb 2014

Admedus' HSV-2 therapeutic vaccine achieves primary endpoint in Phase 1 trial

Admedus today announced that interim study results on its Phase 1 trial of a therapeutic vaccine for Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-2) have shown that it achieved the primary endpoint of the study by being safe in the study subjects. In addition, the study has also shown that the vaccine was able to generate a T-cell response.

3 Feb 2014

UT Southwestern' faculty receives Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award for contributions to understanding of autophagy

Dr. Beth Levine, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Director of the Center for Autophagy Research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has received the 2014 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

22 Jan 2014

Population Council gets USAID cooperative agreement to develop non-ARV microbicides that block HIV, STI

The Population Council today announced it was awarded a cooperative agreement from the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of HIV and AIDS: "Non-ARV Based Combination Microbicide that Blocks HIV and Other STIs."

6 Jan 2014

Genocea commences GEN-004 Phase 1 study to prevent pneumococcus infections

Genocea Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage company pioneering novel T cell vaccines, announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1 study of GEN-004, an investigational vaccine candidate for pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumoniae), a major cause of infectious disease-related death globally. GEN-004 is the first vaccine candidate designed to prevent infections caused by all strains of pneumococcus through a novel T cell-mediated mechanism of action.

5 Dec 2013

Researchers launch clinical trial of investigational vaccine designed to prevent genital herpes disease

Researchers have launched an early-stage clinical trial of an investigational vaccine designed to prevent genital herpes disease. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring the Phase I trial, which is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.

11 Nov 2013

HIV risk-reduction counseling at time of HIV testing shows no reduction in STI rates

Brief risk-reduction counseling at the time of a rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test was not effective for reducing new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during the subsequent 6 months among persons at risk for HIV, according to a study in the October 23/30 issue of JAMA.

24 Oct 2013

Most U.S. adolescents lack antibodies that may help protect against genital herpes, says study

A new study suggests a growing number of U.S. adolescents lack antibodies that may help protect them later in life against an increasingly important cause of genital herpes. Published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and available online, the findings show that fewer of today's teens have been exposed in their childhood to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), a common cause of cold sores, than U.S. adolescents in previous years.

17 Oct 2013

Discovery paves way for development of new medicines to combat herpes infections

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden and Carnegie Mellon University have for the first time managed to measure the internal pressure that enables the herpes virus to infect cells in the human body. The discovery paves the way for the development of new medicines to combat viral infections. The results indicate good chances to stop herpes infections in the future.

3 Oct 2013

Resveratrol worsens MS-like neuropathology and inflammation, study finds

Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol compound produced by the skin of red grapes and peanuts, and found in red wine, has been touted as a beneficial supplement due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

1 Oct 2013

MIT engineers develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer vaccines to lungs

Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on vaccines that can establish a front line of defense at mucosal surfaces.

26 Sep 2013

Researchers find that people affected by cold sores have mutation in gene

Why some people are troubled by cold sores while others are not has finally been explained by scientists. Cold sores affect around one in five people but, until now, no one has been sure why some are more prone to the virus that causes them.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers potentially reached milestone in vaccine treatment for genital herpes

Sexually transmitted infection researchers potentially have reached a milestone in vaccine treatment for genital herpes, according to a report to be presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Denver, Colo., on today, Sept. 12.

13 Sep 2013

Pain, itching associated with shingles may be due to virus causing "short circuit" in nerve cells

The pain and itching associated with shingles and herpes may be due to the virus causing a "short circuit" in the nerve cells that reach the skin, Princeton researchers have found.

11 Sep 2013

Novel viral therapy to treat specific types of cancer in children

Parents do everything they can to protect their children against all of the nasty germs floating around classrooms across the country this time of year. Doctors and researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital, however, are looking into how those same types of common viruses can actually help treat a child who is diagnosed with certain cancers.

10 Sep 2013

Apoptosis can reactivate latent herpesviruses in dying cell

Researchers have found that apoptosis, a natural process of programmed cell death, can reactivate latent herpesviruses in the dying cell. The results of their research, which could have broad clinical significance since many cancer chemotherapies cause apoptosis, was published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.

6 Sep 2013

Virttu Biologics treats first cohort of patients in SEPREHVIR Phase I/IIa study

Virttu Biologics Limited, a UK biotechnology company with expertise in the field of oncolytic viruses, has announced that it has treated the first cohort of patients in its Phase I/IIa clinical study of its oncolytic virus, SEPREHVIR (HSV1716) for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

27 Aug 2013