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Medivir AB announces license agreement with Daewoong Pharmaceutical for MIV-210 drug

Medivir AB (Sweden) today announced a license agreement with Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., (South Korea) for its hepatitis B virus (HBV) polymerase inhibitor drug, lagociclovir valactate (MIV-210).

12 Mar 2010

Abbott enters into agreement with GSK to develop molecular diagnostic test for skin cancer treatment

Abbott announced today that it has entered into an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop a molecular diagnostic test intended for use as an aid in selecting patients who may benefit from a skin cancer treatment in development by GSK.

4 Mar 2010

Lack of knowledge and awareness impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV

A recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) confirmed that 3.5 to 5.3 million people (1-2 % of the U.S. population) have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Despite efforts by federal, state and local government agencies to control and prevent these diseases, they remain a serious public health concern. The major factor impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV is lack of knowledge and awareness among health care providers, social service professionals, members of the public, and policy-makers.

24 Feb 2010

Study explores link between HBV genotype C and liver cirrhosis

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes have distinct geographical distributions, and have been shown to differ with regard to clinical outcome and prognosis. However, the relationship between HBV genotypes and liver cirrhosis remains controversial and no study on exploring the association between HBV genotypes and subclinical cirrhosis in community-based population has been reported.

10 Feb 2010

Thymosin β4 exhibits potential as new therapeutic agent for liver failure due to chronic HBV infection

REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced today that researchers have correlated Tβ4 levels with the clinical course of patients with hepatitis B virus-related liver failure. It was reported that serum thymosin β4 levels were significantly lower in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection and that the magnitude of the reduction of thymosin β4 was closely related to the severity of the hepatic injury and to patient death. Since patients with higher Tβ4 levels survived the disease, changes in Tβ4 values could reflect outcome in some liver failure patients.

9 Feb 2010

R. Palmer Beasley awarded Hepatitis B Foundation's Distinguished Scientist Award 2010

R. Palmer Beasley, M.D., Ashbel Smith Professor at The University of Texas School of Public Health, has been awarded the Hepatitis B Foundation's Distinguished Scientist Award 2010.

9 Jan 2010

NCKUH and NHRI sponsor virology lab in Vietnam Children’s Hospital

A Virology Lab in Children’s Hospital No. 1 (CH1), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, sponsored by National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKUH) and National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) in Taiwan was launched on November 11th, 2009.

11 Dec 2009

Enrollment of patients for Phase I/IIa clinical study of Interleukin-7 commenced

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that it has begun enrolling patients in its Phase I/IIa clinical program evaluating the company’s investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), in combination with standard antiviral treatment and vaccination in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B-infected (HBV) patients.

8 Dec 2009

FDA approves additional intended use of Roche's cobas TaqScreen MPX Test

Roche announced today that the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved an additional intended use for its licensed nucleic acid test, to screen source plasma in pools comprised of up to 96 individual donations. The test, called the cobas® TaqScreen MPX Test for use on the cobas s 201 system, is a qualitative, in-vitro test for the simultaneous, direct detection of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1 Group M RNA, HIV-1 Group O RNA , HIV-2 RNA), hepatitis C virus RNA and hepatitis B virus DNA in human plasma.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 2 Dec 2009

Gilead Sciences and GSK to commercialize Viread in 5 Asian countries

Gilead Sciences, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline today announced a licensing agreement to commercialize Viread® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection in adults in five countries in Asia. The companies’ combined commercialization activities will expand access to Viread for the treatment of HBV, once approved, to patients in Asia where the prevalence in most countries is greater than 8 percent.

24 Nov 2009

Chronic hepatitis B seems to progress faster in men, report scientists

Scientists in China are reporting discovery of unusual liver proteins, found only in males, that may help explain the long-standing mystery of why the hepatitis B virus (HBV) sexually discriminates -- hitting men harder than women. Their study has been published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication.

19 Nov 2009

Gilead Sciences to present Viread Phase III clinical trial data

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced the presentation of three-year (144-week) open label data from two pivotal Phase III clinical trials, Studies 102 and 103, evaluating the safety and efficacy of once-daily Viread® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) among adult patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

2 Nov 2009

Study shows how differing Asian cultures and attitudes impact cancer screening rates

The Asian continent has nearly four billion people living in 47 different countries, and each of these groups has their own unique set of health issues. But when they come to the United States, they're often lumped into one large demographic: "Asian/Pacific Islander."

30 Oct 2009

Markers that cause primary liver cancer identified

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer forms in the epithelial tissue of the liver and is most commonly caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the U.S., the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 15,000 men and 6,000 women are diagnosed with HCC each year.

21 Oct 2009

Hepatitis B Foundation calls for consistent monitoring and referral of HBV infected children

An expert panel of nationally recognized pediatric liver specialists convened by the Hepatitis B Foundation is calling for more consistent monitoring and referral of children chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The panel's recommendations for pediatricians and other primary care practitioners stress the need for routine monitoring of children with chronic HBV infections, and timely consultation with a pediatric liver specialist.

6 Oct 2009

ABL partners with Evivar Medical to develop and commercialize clinical management tools

Advanced Biological Laboratories S.A (ABL) and Evivar Medical Pty Ltd (Evivar) today announced the completion of agreements to cross-licence their respective intellectual property portfolios, and to form strategic alliances based on the use of their proprietary disease management platforms in HIV and Hepatitis B.

30 Sep 2009

Chronic viruses found living in prostate tumors

According to Dr. Ila R. Singh, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah, "for the first time we have analyzed prostate cancer and normal prostate tissue and found cancers are much more likely to have [the XMRV virus] ... It was also more likely to be present in more aggressive tumors," Singh said. "We found it in 20 percent of the least aggressive tumors and over 45 percent of the most aggressive tumors."

21 Sep 2009

Study: HBV genotype is not linked to hepatocellular carcinoma

Previous studies revealed that HBV genotypes as well as mutations in the core promoter, precore or HBx gene have been shown to have an association with the clinical outcome of liver disease, however, this is still controversial. It is likely that this depends on the HBV genotype distribution in certain region.

17 Sep 2009

Promega unveils Maxwell 16 Viral Total Nucleic Acid Purification Kit

Promega announces the release of the Maxwell 16 Viral Total Nucleic Acid Purification Kit which, among other labs, currently serves the OCA Hospital in Mexico for H1N1 clinical research.

10 Sep 2009

BioTrove partners with FDA to investigate the utility of SNAP system

BioTrove announced a collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research to investigate the utility of the company’s Standardized NanoArray PCR (SNAP) gene expression profiling system for the rapid and specific detection of pathogens in the nation’s blood supply.

8 Sep 2009