Immune Response News and Research

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Selecta Biosciences raises $15M in new Series C financing round

Selecta Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing synthetic nanoparticle vaccines, today announced that it has raised $15 million in a Series C financing round. OrbiMed Advisors LLC led the round, with participation from existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension and Leukon Investments. The Series C financing brings the total capital raised by Selecta over the past 15 months to more than $30 million.

5 Apr 2010

Study: Trial vaccine eliminates residual cancer cells in CML patients

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers say preliminary studies show that a vaccine made with leukemia cells may be able to reduce or eliminate the last remaining cancer cells in some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients taking the drug Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec).

3 Apr 2010

New production method yields hundredsfold more ubiquitylated proteins critical for cancer research

Scientists at the University of Delaware have developed a new method for producing proteins critical to research on cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases.

3 Apr 2010

Researchers identify soy peptides that inhibit fat accumulation and reduce inflammation

If you're serious about losing weight, check out recent studies done in Elvira de Mejia's University of Illinois laboratory. Her research provides insight into the way a certain type of soy protein inhibits fat accumulation and reduces inflammation.

2 Apr 2010

Protein vaccines for needle-free immunization through the skin

Most immunizations currently involve an injection in the arm. In the future, vaccination may be accomplished without the unpleasant jab of a needle: a team led by Victor C. Yang at the University of Michigan (USA) has developed a method by which vaccines can pass directly through the skin without a needle. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, merely linking a special short peptide molecule to the vaccine, which can then be administered in the form of a patch, will do the job.

1 Apr 2010

Phase 1/2 human clinical trial of Symphogen's Sym004 initiated in the US

Symphogen A/S today announced that it has initiated a Phase 1/2 human clinical trial in the US to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of its drug candidate Sym004 for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. Sym004 is composed of two anti-epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibodies targeting different nonoverlapping EGFR epitopes.

1 Apr 2010

AFFiRiS AG develops PD01 vaccine for Parkinson's disease

Today AFFiRiS AG announced an important step forward in the development of its vaccine for Parkinson's disease. The vaccine, known as PD01, has undergone numerous preclinical tests which have confirmed its principle of action ("Proof of Concept").

31 Mar 2010

Final results from Novavax' Phase II clinical trial of trivalent seasonal influenza VLP vaccine announced

Novavax, Inc. a clinical-stage vaccine company, released the final results from a Phase II clinical trial evaluating Novavax's trivalent seasonal influenza Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate in healthy adults. The study enrolled healthy volunteers 18 to 49 years in age who were immunized with a single injection of Novavax's trivalent seasonal influenza VLP vaccine matched to the influenza strains recommended for the 2008-2009 influenza vaccine.

29 Mar 2010

High fructose corn syrup linked to skyrocketing rates of obesity

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rates of obesity in the United States have skyrocketed since the introduction of high fructose corn syrup in 1970. In that time, obesity rates have gone from 15 percent of the U.S. population to roughly one-third.

29 Mar 2010

Role Tregs play in therapeutic HIV vaccines

Like a skittish driver slamming the brakes, a special class of T cells may be limiting the effectiveness of therapeutic vaccines for HIV by slowing the immune system response too soon, report University of Pittsburgh health science researchers in the current issue of PLoS ONE. Their study, the first to look at the role of regulatory T cells in therapeutic HIV vaccines, may help researchers improve the efficacy of such vaccines by devising methods to circumvent the braking mechanism of these cells.

27 Mar 2010

NIH awards $15M grant to UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School

For the second time in less than one month, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School has been awarded a coveted $15 million grant by the National Institutes of Health.

27 Mar 2010

Complex relation between breastfeeding, prolactin and breast cancer

Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in the 12 months after they have completed a pregnancy are 48% more likely to die than other young women with breast cancer according to new research to be presented at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona today (Friday).

26 Mar 2010

Tumors mimic lymphoid tissue and alter host's immune response

A new mechanism explaining how tumors escape the body's natural immune surveillance has recently been discovered at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland. The study shows how tumors can create a tolerant microenviroment and avoid attack by the immune system by mimicking key features of lymph nodes.

26 Mar 2010

Data on Argos Therapeutics' Phase 2a AGS-004 immunotherapy trial presented at Banff HIV Vaccines meeting

Argos Therapeutics today announced the presentation of data from the Phase 2a trial of AGS-004, providing information on rebound viral genetic diversity in HIV patients treated with the personalized immunotherapy following antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption. The data were discussed in a poster session at the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series HIV Vaccines meeting, held March 21-26, 2010 in Banff, Canada.

26 Mar 2010

Natural chemicals from blackcurrants may reduce lung inflammation in allergy-induced asthma

A preliminary study by New Zealand company Plant & Food Research shows that natural chemicals from blackcurrants may help breathing in some types of asthma.

26 Mar 2010

Experimental vaccine can help delay IBD and colon cancer

An experimental vaccine against an abnormal protein found in some tumors has the potential to delay the onset of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in turn prevent progression to colon cancer, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

25 Mar 2010

Optimism may be good for your health

Feeling better about the future might help you feel better for real. In a new study, psychological scientists Suzanne Segerstrom of the University of Kentucky and Sandra Sephton of the University of Louisville studied how law students' expectations about the future affected their immune response.

24 Mar 2010