Immune System News and Research

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Patients' right to be involved in own medical care

Twelve years ago, then 28-year-old graduate student Brian Zikmund-Fisher was forced into the toughest choice of his life: Die from a blood disorder within a few years or endure a bone marrow transplant that could cure him or kill him in weeks.

29 Sep 2010

BAC completes feasibility study on CaptureSelect affinity ligands for Genmab

BAC BV, the leading provider of antibody-based affinity purification technology, today announced that it successfully completed a feasibility study in its collaboration with Genmab A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark), an international biotechnology company developing human antibody therapeutics for the potential treatment of cancer.

29 Sep 2010

New topical microbicide gel can prevent HIV transmission

Amyloid protein structures are best known for the troubles they pose in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Now researchers are trying to exploit their presence in a very different place in semen to find a new way to stop HIV.

29 Sep 2010

Researchers identify biomarker to predict tivozanib drug resistance

Researchers believe there may be a way to predict, based on individual tumors, those patients that are more likely to respond to the investigational new drug tivozanib.

29 Sep 2010

National Jewish Health's liposome-based vaccine receives US patent

National Jewish Health has received a US patent for a new kind of vaccine, which uses a small lipid bubble to deliver an antigen and DNA adjuvant. Chairman of Pediatrics Erwin Gelfand, MD, and former National Jewish Health Professor of Medicine Steve Dow, PhD, developed the new liposome-based adjuvant.

29 Sep 2010

Early initiation of ART may prevent immune system damage in HIV patients: Study

HIV-infected individuals who begin antiretroviral therapy (ART) soon after acquiring the virus may have stronger immune responses to other pathogens than HIV-infected individuals who begin ART later, a new study from the National Institutes of Health has found. This finding suggests that early initiation of ART may prevent irreversible immune system damage and adds to the body of evidence showing significant health benefits from early ART.

29 Sep 2010

Researchers discover new diagnostic test for prostate cancer

Researchers in England say they have discovered a set of biomarkers that can distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease and healthy tissue with 90 percent accuracy.

From Oxford Gene Technology 29 Sep 2010

RV262 Phase I study launched to evaluate DNA prime/MVA vector boost vaccine regimen for HIV

A Phase I study, called RV262, recently began to evaluate a combination DNA prime/MVA vector boost vaccine regimen that was developed to protect against diverse subtypes of HIV-1 prevalent in North America, Europe, Africa and South America.

29 Sep 2010

National survey shows 60% of U.S. adults not familiar with sepsis

Sixty percent of U.S. adults are not familiar with sepsis, despite the fact that more than 200,000 Americans die from it every year, making sepsis one of the leading causes of death in the nation. Lack of awareness is even higher among adults over age 65, who are at greater risk of sepsis, according to a new national survey sponsored by The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY, part of the North Shore–LIJ Health System.

28 Sep 2010

New Formulary Forum reports market growth of immune biologics

HealthLeaders-InterStudy and Fingertip Formulary find that the market growth of immune biologics will come from the expansion of indications for immune biologics in response to limited off-label use and competition for preferred status.

28 Sep 2010

Humans have similar immune system like plants

In addition to known antiviral agents such as antibodies and interferons, people also seem to have a similar immune system to that previously identified in plants. This is the result of research carried out by Esther Schnettler at Wageningen University.

28 Sep 2010

Mucosis collaborates with PATH to pursue use of Mimopath technology in diarrhea vaccines

Dutch biotechnology company Mucosis B.V. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the global health nonprofit organization PATH to pursue the use of the company's Mimopath technology in oral vaccines to prevent and treat severe diarrhea.

28 Sep 2010

Women & Infants Hospital receives $2.1M NIH grant to continue work under COBRE for Perinatal Biology

Women & Infants Hospital has recently received a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue work under the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for Perinatal Biology. Of the 108 COBREs across the country, Women & Infants is the only one specifically focused on developmental research.

28 Sep 2010

IAVI investigators awarded grant to examine antibodies that neutralize HIV virus

A team of investigators headed by International AIDS Vaccine Initiative Investigator Pascal Poignard has been awarded a major grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the US National Institutes of Health to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies by HIV positive individuals.

28 Sep 2010

Doctors face more unpaid bills during recession; Maine MDs rebel against AMA

Some patients, struggling in the bad economy, aren't paying their doctors. "The problems are especially acute for primary care doctors, but specialists are not immune," the Pittsburgh Business Times reports.

28 Sep 2010

DecImmune Therapeutics receives funds to improve ischemia reperfusion injury outcomes

DecImmune Therapeutics announced today that it has received a $1 million equity investment from Astellas Venture Management and has additionally been awarded $2.2 million in Phase II SBIR funding from the National Institutes of Health.

28 Sep 2010

BMC physicians receive $3M NIH grant to identify TB biomarkers

Boston Medical Center has been chosen to lead an investigation aimed at developing novel approaches to prevent tuberculosis. Jerrold J. Ellner, MD, chief of the section of infectious diseases at BMC and professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, a renowned expert in the field, will serve as principal investigator on the five-year, $3 million grant funded by the National Institutes of Health.

28 Sep 2010

Celiac disease on the rise in adults: Study

According to a new study published Monday in the Annals of Medicine, cases of intestinal disorder known as Celiac disease are on the rise with many adults developing the disease.

28 Sep 2010

Sanofi Pasteur signs agreement to acquire VaxDesign

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group announced today that it has signed a binding agreement for the acquisition of VaxDesign, a privately held U.S. biotechnology company, based in Orlando, Florida, that develops, manufactures and markets in vitro models of the human immune system.

28 Sep 2010

BMC physicians to lead international research collaboration to curb infectious diseases

Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been chosen to lead an investigation aimed at developing novel approaches to prevent tuberculosis (TB). Jerrold J. Ellner, MD, chief of the section of infectious diseases at BMC and professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), a renowned expert in the field, will serve as principal investigator (PI) on the five-year, $3 million grant funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

27 Sep 2010