Infectious Diseases News and Research

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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

Global health community reacts to CIA's faux vaccine operation in Pakistan

After the Guardian broke the story that the CIA organized a fake vaccination program in Pakistan in an effort to confirm the location of Osama bin Laden and obtain DNA from his family members, several writers and health experts reacted to the situation, noting the possible implications for health.

14 Jul 2011

Positive data from Inovio's VGX-3400X Phase I study against H5N1 influenza

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that significant T cell and antibody responses were generated in its Phase I clinical study of VGX-3400X, a SynCon DNA vaccine for the prevention of avian H5N1 influenza delivered using intramuscular (IM) electroporation.

14 Jul 2011

Five-year research initiative to cure HIV disease

A team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions have embarked on a joint five-year research initiative to cure HIV disease by finding ways to completely purge the virus from the body in people already successfully suppressing the virus with antiretroviral drug therapy.

14 Jul 2011

New approach for producing human-derived gelatin

Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for producing large quantities of human-derived gelatin that could become a substitute for some of the 300,000 tons of animal-based gelatin produced annually for gelatin-type desserts, marshmallows, candy and innumerable other products.

14 Jul 2011

PharmAthene demonstrates 36 month stability of rPA anthrax vaccine program candidate

PharmAthene, Inc. announced today that it has achieved an important program milestone in its recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine program and demonstrated 36 month stability of its rPA drug product candidate previously produced at Avecia Biologics Laboratories in the United Kingdom. The stability data were prepared utilizing a variety of analytical methods and a well characterized mouse challenge potency assay.

14 Jul 2011

Adamis receives European patent for novel cell-based cancer vaccine technology

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, today announced the technology which constitutes the basis of a novel cell-based cancer vaccine, TeloB-VAX, was recently granted a patent in Europe.

14 Jul 2011

Daily pill ‘combo’ prevents HIV transmission: New African study

According two studies in Africa, taking a daily pill containing either one or two anti-HIV drugs can reduce transmission of the virus by as much as three-quarters among heterosexual couples. This is an encouraging finding that could help focus on AIDS prevention. The results were so compelling that the larger study was halted early and the drugs given to all the participants, researchers said Wednesday.

13 Jul 2011

Sexually transmitted diseases more common in women age 40

A Johns Hopkins infectious disease expert is calling for all sexually active American women age 40 and older to get tested for the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis after new study evidence found that the sexually transmitted disease (STD) is more than twice as common in this age group than previously thought.

12 Jul 2011