Antiviral Drug News and Research

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Scientists have a plan to prevent bird flu pandemic

According to scientists the H5N1 strain of bird flu circulating in Asia which could mutate into a lethal strain and cause a pandemic, could be contained.

4 Aug 2005

Containment of a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans may be possible

Though quick to caution about the many things that could go wrong, researchers say that it may be possible to contain a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans, buying precious time for the production of a vaccine.

3 Aug 2005

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health. Today, experts addressed key developments to the current and future outlook of infectious diseases, highlighting adolescent immunizations, outbreaks and epidemics of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and new developments in HIV medicine, at a press conference sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

27 Jul 2005

Analysis of the Phase I/II clinical trial of HIV drug candidate PA-457

V.I. Technologies (Vitex) and collaborators at the University at Buffalo's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Buffalo, NY, today presented a detailed analysis of the Phase I/II clinical trial of its HIV drug candidate PA-457 at the 3rd International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

26 Jul 2005

Discovery of a receptor that appears to function as one "lock" that HSV opens to allow it to enter human cells

It's one of the most common viruses in America, and one that causes the most guilt and shame. It can get inside almost any kind of human cell, reproduce in vast numbers, and linger for years in the body, causing everything from recurrent genital blisters to sores around the mouth. Its complications can kill, and it may increase susceptibility to many nerve and brain disorders.

24 Jul 2005

U.S. stockpile of anti-flu drugs is "totally inadequate"

The United States does not have nearly enough antiviral drugs on hand to fight a coming influenza pandemic, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

19 Jul 2005

FDA fast tracks HIV protease inhibitor from Vertex and GSK

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has announced that its collaborator, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has received fast track designation for the HIV protease inhibitor (PI) 640385 (VX-385) from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

19 Jul 2005

Tamiflu may treat avian flu virus

Experiments in mice show that an antiviral drug currently used against annual influenza strains also can suppress the deadly influenza virus that has spread from birds to humans, killing dozens of people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand since early 2004.

18 Jul 2005

The bird flu situation in many Asian countries remains critical

The bird flu situation in many Asian countries remains critical and requires more attention by affected countries and the international community, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.

6 Jul 2005

Plan designed to reduce the risk of the H5N1 avian influenza

International animal and human health experts today unveiled a multi-point plan designed to reduce the risk of the H5N1 avian influenza virus spreading from poultry to humans, and appealed to the international community to come forward with funds to make it work and help stave off the risk of an influenza pandemic.

6 Jul 2005

Half a million in U.S. could die in flu pandemic

A report from the Trust for America's Health, says the United States only has 965,256 staffed hospital beds, and in the event of a pandemic, half a million Americans could die and more than 2 million could end up in the hospital with serious complications.

27 Jun 2005

Protocol used to treat the first known survivor of rabies without prior vaccination published

The protocol used to treat the first known survivor of rabies without prior vaccination is published in the June 16, 2005, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. It is hoped that this approach can be replicated, tested, and provide a guide for treating this fatal condition, especially in parts of the world where the incidence of rabies is rampant.

15 Jun 2005

FDA grants Vical orphan-drug designation

Vical Incorporated today announced that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated the company's bivalent (two-plasmid) formulation of the company's vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) as an orphan drug for the prevention of clinically significant CMV viremia, CMV disease and associated complications in at-risk hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) and solid organ transplant (SOT) populations.

14 Jun 2005

Researchers may be on the verge of exploiting the vulnerabilities of a virus that causes cervical cancer

Researchers may be on the verge of exploiting the vulnerabilities of a virus that causes cervical cancer, thanks to a newly developed technique that enables scientists to mass-produce human papillomavirus (HPV) in the laboratory.

13 Jun 2005

Several minute intermediate stage in virus-cell fusion may represent a window of opportunity for drug development

To ignite a life-threatening infection in the body, a virus such as HIV invades body cells by first merging, or fusing, with the cell's outer membrane. Once inside the cell, the invading microbe's genetic material takes over, turning the 'host' cell into a factory to produce more copies of the virus, which then spill out to invade other cells in the body.

8 Jun 2005

Prototype drug shows promise in slowing replication of the virus responsible for SARS

A prototype drug created by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago shows promise in slowing replication of the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

8 Jun 2005

Drinking cranberry juice may fight that tummy bug

A new study suggests that cranberry juice, a well documented remedy to help prevent urinary tract infections, may also work against gastrointestinal viruses.

8 Jun 2005

Biota makes major antiviral discovery

Biota Holdings Limited announced today that it has discovered a new class of orally-effective, potent antivirals against RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) infection.

7 Jun 2005

Cranberry juice may be effective in treating a number of gastrointestinal viruses

Cranberry juice, long considered a home remedy for urinary tract infections, may also be effective against a number of gastrointestinal viruses according to researchers from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. They report their findings today at the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

6 Jun 2005

Research shows how a virus uses the gene silencing machinery for its own infectious purposes

In the latest version of the hide-and-seek game between pathogens and the hosts they infect, researchers have found that a virus appears to cloak itself with a recently discovered gene silencing device to evade detection and destruction by immune cells.

3 Jun 2005

Antiviral Drug News and Research

Scientists have a plan to prevent bird flu pandemic

Containment of a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans may be possible

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health

Analysis of the Phase I/II clinical trial of HIV drug candidate PA-457

Discovery of a receptor that appears to function as one "lock" that HSV opens to allow it to enter human cells

U.S. stockpile of anti-flu drugs is "totally inadequate"

FDA fast tracks HIV protease inhibitor from Vertex and GSK

Tamiflu may treat avian flu virus

The bird flu situation in many Asian countries remains critical

Plan designed to reduce the risk of the H5N1 avian influenza

Half a million in U.S. could die in flu pandemic

Protocol used to treat the first known survivor of rabies without prior vaccination published

FDA grants Vical orphan-drug designation

Researchers may be on the verge of exploiting the vulnerabilities of a virus that causes cervical cancer

Several minute intermediate stage in virus-cell fusion may represent a window of opportunity for drug development

Prototype drug shows promise in slowing replication of the virus responsible for SARS

Drinking cranberry juice may fight that tummy bug

Biota makes major antiviral discovery

Cranberry juice may be effective in treating a number of gastrointestinal viruses

Research shows how a virus uses the gene silencing machinery for its own infectious purposes

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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