Immunodeficiency News and Research

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Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent.

Octapharma receives FDA approval for octagam to treat disorders of immune system

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday cleared the way for the U.S. market return of octagam, the Octapharma USA product used to treat disorders of the immune system.

5 Nov 2011

Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop and commercialize fixed-dose combination for HIV

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced a licensing agreement for Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop and commercialize a fixed-dose combination containing Bristol-Myers Squibb's protease inhibitor REYATAZ (atazanavir sulfate) and Gilead's cobicistat, a pharmacoenhancing or "boosting" agent that increases blood levels of certain HIV medicines to potentially allow for one pill once daily dosing.

27 Oct 2011

Janssen announces FDA label update approval for PREZISTA HIV tablets

Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a label update for PREZISTA (darunavir) tablets to include 192-week data from the ARTEMIS study.

22 Oct 2011

Johnson & Johnson third quarter sales increase 6.8% to $16.0 billion

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $16.0 billion for the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 6.8% as compared to the third quarter of 2010. Operational results increased 2.6% and the positive impact of currency was 4.2%. Domestic sales declined 3.7%.

18 Oct 2011

Dual drug sneaks across the blood-brain barrier to fight HIV

In an advance toward eliminating pockets of infection in the brain that help make HIV disease incurable, scientists report the development of new substances that first plug the biological vacuum cleaner that prevents anti-HIV drugs from reaching the brain and then revert to an active drug to treat HIV.

14 Oct 2011

New robust technique holds promise for identifying trace mutant DNA sequences

Molecular DNA testing methods offer clinicians powerful tools that serve to confirm or identify disease diagnoses. High sensitivity and high specificity, however, are frequently a challenge to achieve with these methods. In a study scheduled for publication in the November issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, researchers describe a new, robust technique that holds promise for identifying trace mutant DNA sequences in an overwhelming population of unmutated DNA.

12 Oct 2011

Measurable changes in brain function may be a consequence of early HIV infection

Measurable changes in brain function and communication between brain regions may be a consequence of virus-induced injury during the early stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

7 Oct 2011

GeoVax completes enrollment for HIV/AIDS vaccine Phase 2a clinical trial

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based biopharmaceutical firm developing vaccines to prevent and fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections, announced today the completion of enrollment for a Phase 2a clinical trial testing its HIV/AIDS vaccine.

3 Oct 2011

Bristol-Myers to present abstracts on research in liver disease at The Liver Meeting 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that 22 abstracts on the Company's research in liver disease have been accepted for presentation at The Liver Meeting 2011, the 62nd annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, in San Francisco, November 4 - 8.

1 Oct 2011

Vertex announces abstracts from hepatitis C program to be presented at The Liver Meeting

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that abstracts from its hepatitis C program, including two late-breaking posters from studies of INCIVEK (telaprevir) tablets and VX-222, were accepted for presentation at The Liver Meeting, the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco, November 4-8, 2011.

1 Oct 2011

UCSF protein researcher wins NIH's Early Independence Award

James Fraser, PhD, a protein researcher who studies structural biology at the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of 10 recipients of a prestigious award for young scientists given for the first time by the National Institutes of Health.

1 Oct 2011

Baxter seeks European marketing authorization for HyQ to treat PI

Baxter International Inc. announced today that it has submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Human Medicinal Products seeking marketing authorization for HyQ. HyQ is Baxter's investigational immunoglobulin (IG) therapy administered subcutaneously and facilitated by recombinant human hyaluronidase, a dispersion and permeation enhancer, for use in patients with primary immunodeficiencies.

From Baxter International Inc. 1 Oct 2011

Phase I clinical trials reveal MVA-B preventive vaccine's immune efficiency against HIV

Phase I clinical trials developed by Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council (CSIC) together with Gregorio Mara--n Hospital in Madrid and Cl-nic Hospital in Barcelona, reveals MVA-B preventive vaccine's immune efficiency against Human's immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

28 Sep 2011

Synthetic lectins inhibit HIV from entering cells

University of Utah researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that stick to the sugary coating of the AIDS virus and inhibit it from infecting cells - an early step toward a new treatment to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.

23 Sep 2011

FDA denies FOIA regarding Gilead Sciences' Truvada correspondence, AHF sues

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its denial of AHF's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding correspondence between the FDA and Gilead Sciences regarding its potential application to the FDA to expand the use of its AIDS drug, Truvada, for use as an HIV prevention pill for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in uninfected individuals.

23 Sep 2011

National HIV/AIDS Strategy meeting to be held at UAB

The White House Office of National AIDS Policy is holding a series of National HIV/AIDS Strategy Implementation Dialogues across the country to examine critical issues and encourage action and collaboration at the state and local levels. The first meeting, focusing on incorporating prevention and care research into HIV programs, is being held at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011.

23 Sep 2011

New microbicide may block AIDS virus from infecting cells

23 Sep 2011

Online gamers decipher 3D molecular structure that may help AIDS research

Online gamers have deciphered the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade. The exploit was published in the journal, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, where - exceptionally in scientific publishing - both gamers and researchers are honored as co-authors.

19 Sep 2011

STED microscope reveals that F-actin pervades immunological synapse

Making use of a new "super resolution" microscope that provides sharp images at extremely small scales, scientists have achieved unprecedented views of the immune system in action.

14 Sep 2011

Genetically modified ‘glow cat’ for HIV/AIDS research

U.S. researcher Eric Poeschla has produced three glowing genetically modified cats by using a virus to carry a gene, called green fluorescent protein (GFP), into the eggs from which the animals eventually grew. This method of genetic modification is simpler and more efficient than traditional cloning techniques, and results in fewer animals being needed in the process.

12 Sep 2011