Infectious Diseases News and Research

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U.N. declares famine in two regions of Somalia; U.S. pledges $28M in additional aid

Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mark Bowden, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said the U.N. had officially declared a famine in the southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of Somalia, VOA News reports.

21 Jul 2011

NIAID awards $36M grant to BIDMC for AIDS vaccine research in nonhuman primates

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to lead a Consortium for AIDS Vaccine Research in Nonhuman Primates.

21 Jul 2011

Kuroiler chicken can play a key role in fighting poverty, nutritional stress

In the fight to improve global health, alleviate hunger, raise living standards and empower women in the developing world, chickens have an important role to play.

21 Jul 2011

Australia sees early rise in flu cases

Australia is gripped with a fourfold increase in the number of people suffering flu. This rise is even before the usual peak season in August and September. Already nearly 8,000 cases have been reported compared with about 2,000 at the same time last year. The increase has disproportionately affected Queensland, NSW and South Australia. In January and February more than 1,700 people were recorded with flu, compared with fewer than 300 the year before.

20 Jul 2011

MDL announces HPV-16 Status reflex test

Medical Diagnostic Laboratories, L.L.C. (MDL) is a CLIA certified infectious disease laboratory which specializes in high-complexity, state-of-the-art, automated DNA-based molecular analyses.

20 Jul 2011

MDI, Eldan partner to distribute Detect-Ready MRSA Panel in Israel

Molecular Detection Inc. (MDI), a company developing Detect-Ready tests designed to increase the speed and accuracy of infectious disease diagnosis, and life sciences and diagnostics distributor Eldan, a part on the Neopharm Group, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement for distribution of MDI's Detect-Ready MRSA Panel in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

20 Jul 2011

Kool Smiles inaugurates new Elkhart office to offer dental services

Kool Smiles, a leading dental health provider for children and adults, has opened a new office in Elkhart. Kool Smiles of Elkhart, which began seeing patients on July 11, puts quality dental care within reach of even more previously underserved area residents.

20 Jul 2011

Speed and efficiency of response to outbreaks are key to tackling epidemics

In an age where the next pandemic could leap continents in the hours it takes for an international flight to take off and land, University of Utah Professor Paul Hu fears the death toll may depend on how fast and efficiently world health officials can respond to an outbreak.

20 Jul 2011

DNA vaccine developer Coridon in U.S. collaboration

DNA vaccine development company Coridon Pty Ltd. today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with The Ohio State University to progress its Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) project.

19 Jul 2011

Johnson & Johnson second quarter sales increase 8.3% to $16.6 billion

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $16.6 billion for the second quarter of 2011, an increase of 8.3% as compared to the second quarter of 2010.

19 Jul 2011

UNC receives $3M federal grant for AIDS research

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of medicine and pharmacy have been awarded a $3 million federal grant to develop and test a new generation of treatments aimed at preventing sexual transmission of HIV to uninfected individuals.

19 Jul 2011

Optimer introduces DIFICID for treatment of C. difficile-associated diarrhea

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the commercial launch of DIFICID (fidaxomicin) tablets for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) in patients 18 years of age and older.

19 Jul 2011

Emory-led consortium receives NIH grant to develop effective HIV/AIDS vaccine

A consortium of leading vaccine researchers at Emory University and partner institutions has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant aimed at developing an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine.

19 Jul 2011

BMC receives $1.1 million MDPH grant to expand HIV clinic

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has awarded a nearly $1.1 million grant to Boston Medical Center (BMC) to provide funding for HIV/AIDS support and case management services.

19 Jul 2011

Shionogi to acquire Victory Pharma's products to treat pain and infectious diseases

Shionogi Inc., the U.S.-based group company of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all currently marketed products from Victory Pharma, Inc., including seven treatments for pain and two for infectious diseases. The products, which are all approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will be marketed by Shionogi's existing sales force.

18 Jul 2011

ISENTRESS demonstrates comparable efficacy to efavirenz in treatment-naïve adult HIV-1 patients

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced final results from a Phase II clinical study, extending out to 240 weeks, of its integrase inhibitor ISENTRESS® (raltegravir) Tablets in combination therapy in previously untreated (treatment-naïve) adult HIV-1-infected patients.

18 Jul 2011

FDA files MedImmune's sBLA for quadrivalent intranasal nasal influenza vaccine, FluMist

MedImmune has received confirmation from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that the Agency has filed the Company's supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for a quadrivalent (four-strain) version of FluMist® (Influenza Vaccine Live, Intranasal). The company submitted the sBLA early in the second quarter of this year.

18 Jul 2011

Study recommends short and simple HIV consent forms

An in-depth review of consent forms provided to volunteers for HIV/AIDS research in the United States and abroad about study procedures, risks and benefits has found that the forms were extremely long and used wording that may have been complex enough to hinder full understanding, according to bioethicists at The Johns Hopkins University.

16 Jul 2011

Inovio reports strong immune responses with VGX-3100 vaccine for cervical dysplasia and cancer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, has reported data demonstrating long-term durability of T cell immune responses of up to over two years (at the latest time measured) in 7 of 8 evaluated patients following a fourth vaccination of VGX-3100, its investigational SynCon® DNA vaccine for treating cervical dysplasia and cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) that is delivered using intramuscular electroporation.

15 Jul 2011

inVentiv Health announces completion of PharmaNet acquisition

inVentiv Health, offering best-in-class clinical, commercial and consulting services to the healthcare industry, today announced it has completed the acquisition of PharmaNet Development Group, Inc., a recognized leader of global drug development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic drug and medical device industries.

14 Jul 2011