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GenVec receives extra funding for adenovector-based HIV vaccines program

GenVec, Inc. has announced that the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has executed its sixth option period (year seven) under its multi-year collaboration with GenVec to develop and manufacture novel adenovector-based HIV vaccines.

22 Oct 2007

T-cell exhaustion

A new study of immune cells battling a chronic viral infection shows that the cells, called T cells, become exhausted by the fight in specific ways, undergoing profound changes that make them progressively less effective over time.

19 Oct 2007

New model helps explain rules governing the transmission of microbes

Many of the most successful microbes are those that inhabit but do not kill their host. Cheaters lose. Tuberculosis settles into the lungs. Helicobacter pylori, the microbe causing ulcers, burrows into the stomach where it thrives on acids. And Salmonella typhi takes up residence in the gallbladder. All of these organisms can persist in our bodies for decades. What explains their success?

18 Oct 2007

HIV linked to increased risk of end-stage renal disease in African-Americans

For African Americans infected with HIV, the risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is six times higher than for whites with HIV - and similar to the ESRD risk associated with diabetes, reports a study in the November Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

18 Oct 2007

Scientists discover how HIV evolves

University of Florida scientists have discovered how HIV evolves over the course of a person's lifetime into a more deadly form that heralds the onset of full-blown AIDS.

17 Oct 2007

Existing drugs may be useful in treating brain tumors

Scientists have shown how developing brain tumors can turn an encounter with a signaling molecule from a fatal experience for the tumor cells into a cue for their own growth and multiplication.

17 Oct 2007

Home-based HIV voluntary counseling and testing in developing countries

A review of existing research suggests that people in two African countries prefer taking HIV tests at home, with the assistance of counselors, instead of at a clinic.

17 Oct 2007

One-third of patients receiving HIV medication in Africa don't continue treatment

More than one-third of patients receiving HIV medication in Africa die or discontinue their treatment within two years, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

17 Oct 2007

FDA approves raltegravir new HIV drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved raltegravir tablets for treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-1 infection in combination with other antiretroviral agents in treatment-experienced adult patients who have evidence of viral replication and HIV-1 strains resistant to multiple antiretroviral agents.

17 Oct 2007

AHF challenges Merck over Isentress AIDS drug pricing

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has criticized Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals, for the announced price for its key new HIV/AIDS drug, Isentress (raltegravir), an integrase inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday, and priced by the company at nearly $9,900 per patient yearly.

17 Oct 2007

Low prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in HIV-positive patients

Helicobacter pylori has been extensively studied and proven to be the main cause of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer in the HIV-negative population.

17 Oct 2007

Older men with HIV often have sex without condoms

As many as four out of ten HIV positive African-American men could be putting their partners at risk by not using condoms, according to research in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

16 Oct 2007

Vaginal microbicide coated condom partnership between Durex and Starpharma

Starpharma Holdings Ltd today announced the signing of an agreement with SSL International plc, owner of Durex, the world's leading condom brand.

16 Oct 2007

Discovery of way to match pathogens to their antibodies

The search for a vaccination against HIV has been in progress since 1984, with very little success.

15 Oct 2007

Pioneering approach to cardiovascular care

Thousands of heart patients in the Greater New York region will receive top quality, comprehensive cardiac care in an innovative cardiovascular program in which physicians at a major academic medical center will receive incentive payments based on 60 performance measures for outpatient and inpatient care.

12 Oct 2007

Male sex tourists may be fueling an HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean

Male sex tourists, largely from the United States and Europe, may be fueling an HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean, and efforts to stop the epidemic will be severely hampered unless HIV prevention dollars are diverted to help male prostitutes, a new study suggests.

12 Oct 2007

Brookhaven's D-peptides halt HIV entry into cells

Based in part on protein structures determined at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists at the University of Utah have developed new peptides that appear to be significantly more effective at blocking HIV's entry into cells than other drugs in their class.

10 Oct 2007