Immune Response News and Research

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Research study highlights the biological importance of Vitamin D in humans and other primates

A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that is has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and is shared only by primates, including humans - but no other known animal species.

19 Aug 2009

CSL Biotherapies to supply Afluria influenza vaccines from newly licensed packaging facility

CSL Biotherapies, a subsidiary of CSL Limited, one of the world's leading manufacturers of influenza vaccine, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has licensed the company’s newest vaccine filling and packaging facility, located in Kankakee, Ill. The facility, part of an investment to expand CSL’s U.S. influenza vaccine production capabilities, includes a high-speed, single-dose vaccine syringe filling line.

19 Aug 2009

New production technology to develop vaccine for norovirus

Scientists have used a new vaccine production technology to develop a vaccine for norovirus, a dreaded cause of diarrhea and vomiting that may be the second most common viral infection in the United States after the flu. Sometimes called the "cruise ship virus," this microbe can spread like wildfire through passenger liners, schools, offices and military bases.

19 Aug 2009

CryoLife's SynerGraft technology effective in removing donor cells and cellular remnants from the tissue

CryoLife, Inc., an implantable biological medical device and cardiovascular tissue processing company, today announced the first three implantations of the CryoPatch((R)) SG pulmonary human cardiac patch since FDA clearance.

19 Aug 2009

Mother's immune system may block fetal treatments for blood diseases

Pediatric researchers have resolved an apparent contradiction in the field of prenatal cell transplantation - a medical approach that holds future promise in correcting sickle cell disease and other serious congenital blood disorders. In a new study in animals, the researchers showed that the mother's immune response interferes with the offspring's earlier ability to tolerate transplanted donor cells.

17 Aug 2009

New microneedle-based injection device from Nanopass

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a swine flu pandemic, NanoPass Technologies Ltd. (NanoPass) announced today that it has successfully developed a microneedle-based injection device that could dramatically enhance both the effectiveness and supply of pandemic flu vaccines.

14 Aug 2009

First batch of cancer vaccine from Cancer Vaccine Collaborative goes into trial

The first batch of NY-ESO-1 recombinant protein produced in a facility supported entirely by non-profit entities has successfully cleared regulatory review and has entered clinical testing. The clinical trials are part of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, a joint program of the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. (LICR).

13 Aug 2009

Dynavax announces European development strategy for investigational adult hepatitis B vaccine in Europe

Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq:DVAX) today announced that it has met with the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) to discuss its plans for continued clinical development of HEPLISAVTM Phase 3 investigational adult hepatitis B vaccine in Europe.

12 Aug 2009

Cryolife receives 510(k) clearance from FDA for CryoPatch SG pulmonary human cardiac patch

CryoLife, Inc., (NYSE: CRY) an implantable biological medical device and cardiovascular tissue processing company, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its CryoPatch((R)) SG pulmonary human cardiac patch.

12 Aug 2009

New insights into identifying children at risk for autoimmune brain disorders

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity indicates that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may develop from an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria causing common throat infections.

11 Aug 2009

Experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis reverses disorder in mice

A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University in Montreal.

11 Aug 2009

Gene Signal publishes phase I data on GS-101 for diseases of the eye

Gene Signal, a company focused on developing innovative drugs to manage angiogenesis based conditions, has announced publication of data from a phase I study demonstrating that the antisense oligonucleotide GS-101 (eye drops) is safe, with no signs of intolerability following administration to healthy volunteers.

11 Aug 2009

New hope for sufferers of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Florida in Gainesville have safely given new, functional genes to patients with a hereditary defect that can lead to fatal lung and liver diseases, according to clinical trial findings slated to appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

10 Aug 2009

H5N1 avian influenza leaves people at increased risk for Parkinson's disease

At least one strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus leaves survivors at significantly increased risk for Parkinson's disease and possibly other neurological problems later in life, according to new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

10 Aug 2009

Novel approach for developing an AIDS vaccine

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, believe conventional vaccine strategies should not be the only avenue explored in the development of an effective AIDS vaccine.

7 Aug 2009

Immune system protects cancer cells in first few days

During the very first few days of development of a cancer, our immune system recognizes cancer cells not as abnormal cells requiring eradication but as cells of the body that need to be protected. This result was obtained by the team led by David Klatzmann at the Laboratoire Immunologie (UPMC / CNRS / INSERM).

7 Aug 2009

Scientists find key to strengthening immune response to chronic infection

A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective "soldiers" against certain viruses like HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B, as well as some cancers, such as melanoma.

6 Aug 2009

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals starts phase I/II trial of novel advanced prostate cancer vaccine

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase I/II clinical trial of BP-GMAX-CD1, a novel pharmacologically regulated dendritic cell vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer. The disease-specific trial is being conducted under a Bellicum Investigational New Drug application allowed by the FDA in 2008. The company anticipates reporting initial results of the study in 2010.

6 Aug 2009

Reversible cell-specific drug delivery with aptamer-functionalized liposomes

For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and - ideally - its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects.

6 Aug 2009

Pattern of gene expression in blood provides clues to etiology of respiratory infections

Scientists have shown that they can identify and characterize an individual's response to a respiratory viral infection by examining the pattern of gene expression in their blood.

6 Aug 2009