Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Alnylam files clinical trial application for alpha-1 liver disease, presents data at DDW

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has filed a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) with the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial with ALN-AAT, a subcutaneously administered investigational RNAi therapeutic targeting alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) for the treatment of AAT deficiency-associated liver disease (alpha-1 liver disease).

19 May 2015

New genomics laboratory in Liberia enables scientists to monitor genetic changes in Ebola virus

Army scientists working to support the Ebola virus outbreak response in West Africa have established the first genomic surveillance capability in Liberia, enabling them to monitor genetic changes in the virus within one week of sample collection. An article describing their work was recently published ahead of print in the online edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

15 May 2015

Bathing patients in common hospital soap can reduce MRSA contamination

Holding hope for a relatively inexpensive way to improve care and prevent the spread of deadly hospital-acquired infections, a new study reports that bathing patients in a common hospital soap, called chlorhexidine, was equally effective in preventing the transmission of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the common practice of having healthcare workers avoid physical contact with the patients.

14 May 2015

Great Basin Scientific revenue up 31% in first quarter 2015

Great Basin Scientific, Inc., a molecular diagnostic testing company, today reported earnings results for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. Revenue for the quarter was $458,730, which represented a 31 percent increase in year-over-year revenues, and Loss from Operations was $3.9 million.

14 May 2015

New Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center launched

Fundamental research into the causes and cures of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome now has its first home base at a major U.S. medical research center with the launch of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center. Inaugurated on May 12, 2015, with a major gift from the Lyme Disease Research Foundation, the center plans an ambitious research program targeting this increasingly common disease, which costs the U.S. economy up to $1.3 billion per year in treatment costs alone.

14 May 2015

Research finding could lead to better treatments for inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) afflicts 1.6 million people in the United States, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, rectal bleeding and other potentially debilitating symptoms.

14 May 2015

Soligenix, Emergent BioSolutions sign development agreement

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products that address unmet medical needs in the areas of inflammation, oncology and biodefense, announced today that it has initiated a development agreement with Emergent BioSolutions to implement a commercially viable, scalable production technology for the RiVax drug substance protein antigen.

13 May 2015

European Investment Bank supports Bavarian Nordic’s development of Ebola and cancer vaccines

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the world’s largest multilateral bank, today reaffirmed its firm commitment to respond to the Ebola pandemic. The Bank has provided a EUR 50 million loan to Bavarian Nordic, an international biopharmaceutical company, for accelerated development of an Ebola vaccine with long-term efficacy. The financing is also backing research into vaccines for treating other infectious diseases and multiple cancer indications.

12 May 2015

Malfunction of brain architecture can prompt neuron to make 'early-career' switch

Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered that the role of neurons -- which are responsible for specific tasks in the brain -- is much more flexible than previously believed.

12 May 2015

GP out-of-hours reforms linked to more emergency admissions for children

A study published today in Annals of Family Medicine, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, found that the GP contract was associated with an eight per cent increase in short stay admissions for potentially avoidable chronic conditions...

12 May 2015

Experimental gene therapy holds promise against metastatic prostate cancer

Even with the best available treatments, the median survival of patients with metastatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer is only two to three years. Driven by the need for more effective therapies for these patients, researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have developed a unique approach that uses microscopic gas bubbles to deliver directly to the cancer a viral gene therapy in combination with an experimental drug that targets a specific gene driving the cancer's growth.

12 May 2015

Southern Indiana to be oasis free from Lyme disease, finds Indiana University researcher

Over nearly 15 years spent studying ticks, Indiana University's Keith Clay has found southern Indiana to be an oasis free from Lyme disease, the condition most associated with these arachnids that are the second most common parasitic disease vector on Earth.

11 May 2015

UNC-Chapel Hill, GSK partner to find cure for HIV/AIDS

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a leading global public research university with significant expertise in HIV basic and clinical research, and GSK, a global, research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company with a legacy of success in developing treatments for HIV, today announced the creation of the dedicated HIV Cure center and a jointly owned new company that will focus on discovering a cure for HIV/AIDS.

11 May 2015

Roche announces FDA approval of cobas KRAS Mutation Test for diagnostic use

Roche today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the cobas KRAS Mutation Test for diagnostic use. The real-time PCR test is designed to identify KRAS mutations in tumor samples from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients and aid clinicians in determining a therapeutic path for them.

11 May 2015

Researchers discover potential mechanism to combat haemorrhagic diseases

A potential mechanism to combat diseases caused by haemorrhagic fever viruses has been discovered by researchers at the University of Montreal's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. These diseases present a dramatic risk to human health as they often spread quickly and kill a high percentage of infected individuals, as demonstrated by the recent Ebola outbreaks.

11 May 2015

Will the Ebola crisis lead to improved global health security?

Unprecedented in both its impact and scale, the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has led to a renewed interest in the issue of global health security. How is global health security defined?..

8 May 2015

New edition of WHO Essential Medicines List includes new treatments for hepatitis C, cancers and multi-drug TB

WHO today published the new edition of its Model List of Essential Medicines which includes ground-breaking new treatments for hepatitis C, a variety of cancers (including breast cancer and leukaemia) and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB), among others. The move opens the way to improve access to innovative medicines that show clear clinical benefits and could have enormous public health impact globally.

8 May 2015

WHO calls on experts, social media to follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases

WHO today called on scientists, national authorities and the media to follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases to minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people.

8 May 2015

Discovery opens up new avenue for development of potential therapies to treat, prevent malaria

Scientists have identified a protein on the surface of human red blood cells that serves as an essential entry point for invasion by the malaria parasite. This discovery opens up a promising new avenue for the development of therapies to treat and prevent malaria.

8 May 2015

WHO issues best practices for naming new human infectious diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) today called on scientists, national authorities and the media to follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases to minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people...

8 May 2015

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Alnylam files clinical trial application for alpha-1 liver disease, presents data at DDW

New genomics laboratory in Liberia enables scientists to monitor genetic changes in Ebola virus

Bathing patients in common hospital soap can reduce MRSA contamination

Great Basin Scientific revenue up 31% in first quarter 2015

New Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center launched

Research finding could lead to better treatments for inflammatory bowel disease

Soligenix, Emergent BioSolutions sign development agreement

European Investment Bank supports Bavarian Nordic’s development of Ebola and cancer vaccines

Malfunction of brain architecture can prompt neuron to make 'early-career' switch

GP out-of-hours reforms linked to more emergency admissions for children

Experimental gene therapy holds promise against metastatic prostate cancer

Southern Indiana to be oasis free from Lyme disease, finds Indiana University researcher

UNC-Chapel Hill, GSK partner to find cure for HIV/AIDS

Roche announces FDA approval of cobas KRAS Mutation Test for diagnostic use

Researchers discover potential mechanism to combat haemorrhagic diseases

Will the Ebola crisis lead to improved global health security?

New edition of WHO Essential Medicines List includes new treatments for hepatitis C, cancers and multi-drug TB

WHO calls on experts, social media to follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases

Discovery opens up new avenue for development of potential therapies to treat, prevent malaria

WHO issues best practices for naming new human infectious diseases

NGS for Infectious Disease Surveillance eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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