Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

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15 Mar 2011

External panel issues draft report saying WHO response to H1N1 lacked cohesion, clarity

An independent panel of experts commissioned by the WHO to probe its response to the H1N1 pandemic on Thursday released a draft report stating that while the organization performed well in many ways, it made "crucial mistakes" and "warned tens of millions could die if there is a severe flu outbreak in the future," the Associated Press reports.

14 Mar 2011

Swine flu pandemic declaration by WHO being investigated by experts

Experts who have been investigating the World Health Organization’s management of the response to the H1N1 pandemic have announced that they found no evidence that the drug industry influenced the agency’s decision making over how to handle the virus. In their draft report that panel of independent experts did acknowledge that the WHO failed to understand and respond to conflicts of interest among experts on its advisory Emergency Committee, which had previously acknowledged their pharmaceutical industry ties.

14 Mar 2011

Flu pandemics may return & mutating strains: Studies

Scientists have warned that we have not seen the end of H1N1 swine flu that swept the globe in 2009/10. The strain of the virus could easily morph into a more transmissible form, while an older, mid-20th century virus could also come roaring back they say. Asian influenza, a H2N2 strain, first appeared in 1957 and killed one to four million people despite a major vaccination campaign. Studies have shown that most people today aged 50 or older retain some immunity to the virus, which continues to circulate in birds and swine. But the younger are more vulnerable they warn.

12 Mar 2011

Positive preliminary results from Sinovac EV71 vaccine phase I trial in adults

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today the unblinding of the Phase I clinical trial results for the adult population for its proprietary inactivated vaccine against human enterovirus 71, which causes hand, foot, and mouth disease.

10 Mar 2011

Swine flu virus may evolve into a deadlier form

In the fall of 1917, a new strain of influenza swirled around the globe. At first, it resembled a typical flu epidemic: Most deaths occurred among the elderly, while younger people recovered quickly. However, in the summer of 1918, a deadlier version of the same virus began spreading, with disastrous consequence. In total, the pandemic killed at least 50 million people - about 3 percent of the world's population at the time.

10 Mar 2011

Senate Democrats release FY11 CR that seeks to preserve foreign aid, State Department funding at FY10 levels

Senate Democrats on Friday introduced a FY11 continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through September, "with a vote on the measure, as well as a House-passed proposal, expected" this week, the Washington Post's "2chambers" blog reports (Sonmez, 3/4).

8 Mar 2011

Sinovac submits clinical trial application for 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to China SFDA

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today it submitted the application to commence clinical trials for its 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) to China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on March 3, 2011.

3 Mar 2011

Existing plans for drug use during flu pandemic can reduce wastewater treatment efficiency

Existing plans for antiviral and antibiotic use during a severe influenza pandemic could reduce wastewater treatment efficiency prior to discharge into receiving rivers, resulting in water quality deterioration at drinking water abstraction points.

2 Mar 2011

VaxInnate receives $196 million BARDA contract to develop novel flu vaccines

VaxInnate Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, worth up to $196 million to fund the development of recombinant seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines.

1 Mar 2011

Novavax announces agreement to license VLP vaccine technology to LGLS

Novavax, Inc. announced today an agreement to license its proprietary, recombinant virus-like-particle vaccine technology to LG Life Sciences, Ltd.

1 Mar 2011

HHS awards two contracts to accelerate flu vaccine availability

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded two contracts today to help make vaccine available more quickly for seasonal flu outbreaks and pandemics. The contracts for advanced development of new types of vaccine and new ways to make flu vaccine known as next-generation recombinant influenza vaccine total $215 million.

28 Feb 2011

BioCryst receives HHS contract to complete peramivir Phase 3 study in patients with influenza

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a $55.0 million contract modification by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services intended to fund to completion the Phase 3 development of its neuraminidase inhibitor, intravenous peramivir, for the treatment of patients hospitalized with influenza.

25 Feb 2011

Scientists receive HHS grant to investigate DSC127 in treatment of skin injuries linked with radiation exposure

Derma Sciences, Inc., a medical device and pharmaceutical company focused on advanced wound care, today announced that researchers who invented DSC127 have been awarded a $4.5 million, 16-month grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to investigate preclinically the use of DSC127 in the treatment of skin injuries associated with acute radiation exposure.

23 Feb 2011

Vical extends relationship with U.S. NMRC for emerging disease vaccine platform

Vical Incorporated announced today that the company has extended its relationship with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center to develop its platform technology for the rapid development and production of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.

22 Feb 2011

Novavax announces final safety, immunogenicity results from H1N1 VLP vaccine at WHO meeting

Novavax, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today presented the final safety and immunogenicity results from its 2009 H1N1 virus-like particle pandemic influenza vaccine clinical trial in Mexico at the invitation-only 7th World Health Organization Meeting on Evaluation of Pandemic Influenza Vaccines in Clinical Trials.

19 Feb 2011

Daily Report Global Health Conversations: Global health funding and the FY11, FY12 budgets

As Congress considers both the FY11 and FY12 budgets, the Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report's Jaclyn Schiff spoke to Adam Wexler, a senior policy analyst for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, about the potential implications for global health funding.

18 Feb 2011

BARDA awards contracts for development of drugs to treat injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome

Two contracts for advanced development of drugs to treat skin and lung injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome (ARS) were awarded this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). These contracts are the first by BARDA to address the skin and lung injuries that arise from acute exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation - the type of radiation that results from a nuclear blast.

16 Feb 2011

Aeolus receives BARDA contract for AEOL 10150 drug development against ARS

Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of broad spectrum catalytic antioxidant compounds that reduce oxidative stress, inflammation, and subsequent tissue damage-signaling cascades resulting from radiation exposure, today announced that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded Aeolus a contract for the advanced development of AEOL 10150 as a medical countermeasure against the pulmonary sub-syndrome of acute radiation syndrome.