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Pfizer releases Phase III study results comparing VFEND-ERAXIS combination to VFEND for IA

Pfizer Inc. today reported the top-line results of an international Phase III clinical trial which compared the combination of VFEND (voriconazole) and ERAXISTM (anidulafungin) to VFEND monotherapy for primary therapy of invasive aspergillosis, a life-threatening invasive fungal infection that can develop as a complication in patients with compromised immune systems.

1 Oct 2011

Time to increase efforts against HIV/AIDS, TB

In a Huffington Post opinion piece, Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, asks whether President Barack Obama will "heed Archbishop [Desmond] Tutu's call to action" in a recent Washington Post opinion piece "and do his part to end AIDS."

1 Oct 2011

CMA welcomes Supreme Court ruling on Vancouver's supervised injection facility

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) welcomed today the unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada allowing Vancouver's supervised drug injection facility, Insite, to continue to operate.

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

USAID interviews Kenyan government staff regarding Cabinet memorandum outlining HIV program fundraising options

USAID's "IMPACTblog" interviews Regina Ombam, head of strategy for the Kenya National AIDS Control Council (NACC), and Irene Mukui, the antiretroviral therapy (ART) program manager for Kenya's National AIDS and STI Control Program, regarding a Cabinet memorandum prepared by the NACC in March that outlines ways to raise funds for HIV programming.

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

Increased communication needed for TB diagnostics development

In this post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, Madhukar Pai, a professor and tuberculosis (TB) researcher based at McGill University, co-chair of the Stop TB Partnership's New Diagnostics Working Group, and a consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, describes a recent conference on TB diagnostics at St. John's Research Institute in Bangalore, India, that aimed "to stimulate industry interest and investments in TB innovations."

30 Sep 2011

Members of MAPRx coalition urge supercommittee to protect Part D program

Writing on behalf of millions of Medicare beneficiaries with chronic health conditions who rely on Part D for their essential medications, 26 members of the Medicare Access for Patients Rx (MAPRx) coalition sent a joint letter urging members of the joint deficit panel ("supercommittee") to reject proposals to increase Medicare beneficiary cost-sharing, raise coinsurance, and freeze income thresholds as they seek ways to reduce federal spending.

30 Sep 2011

Study highlights importance of prior planning before introduction of new vaccines

Proper planning before the introduction of new vaccines into a developing country's active immunization program could prevent storage problems and transportation bottlenecks that decrease the availability of existing vaccines by as much as two-thirds, according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

30 Sep 2011

Patients with chronic hepatitis C less likely to take medications over time

Patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C become less likely to take their medications over time, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

30 Sep 2011

Researchers determine structure of RIG-I protein linked with viral infections

Researchers at Rutgers and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have determined the structure of a protein that is the first line of defense in fighting viral infections including influenza, hepatitis C, West Nile, rabies, and measles.

30 Sep 2011

Strides being made against trypanosomiasis

Rachel ter Horst, medical advocacy adviser at Medecins Sans Frontieres, describes findings presented at the recent 31st biennial International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control in Bamako, Mali, in this "BMJ Group Blogs" post.

30 Sep 2011

Two UTA scientists win 2011 PECASE award for innovative research

Two scientists from The University of Texas at Austin are among the 2011 recipients of Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

30 Sep 2011

Small Phase I trial shows HIV vaccine candidate is most powerful to date

Researchers at the Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council (CSIC) have successfully completed a small Phase I human clinical trial of an HIV vaccine candidate that granted 90 percent of 30 study participants an immunological response against the virus, Gizmag reports.

30 Sep 2011

Increased focus on vaccine for dengue fever is critical to curb spread of disease

In this GlobalPost opinion piece, Zulfiqar Bhutta, Husein Laljee Dewraj professor and head of the Division of Maternal and Child Health at the Aga Khan University Medical Center in Karachi, Pakistan, and Ciro de Quadros, executive vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and former director of the Division of Vaccines and Immunization at PAHO, examine the need for a dengue fever vaccine as Pakistan struggles to curb an outbreak of the disease that to date has killed 60 people and has infected more than 8,000.

30 Sep 2011

GlobalPost examines how Indian city of Surat cleaned up after 1994 plague outbreak

GlobalPost reports how, spurred by an outbreak of the pneumonic plague in 1994, the Indian city of Surat "successfully went from one of the country's dirtiest cities to one of its cleanest in 18 short months." The news service writes that "after 54 residents died and some 300,000 fled to escape a possible quarantine, the people who stuck around were willing to get with the program -- working to eliminate the tons of garbage and overflowing sewers that had inundated the city with disease-carrying rats."

30 Sep 2011

Roads may play a major role in the spread or containment of antibiotic resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistant E. coli was much more prevalent in villages situated along roads than in rural villages located away from roads, which suggests that roads play a major role in the spread or containment of antibiotic resistant bacteria, commonly called superbugs, a new study finds.

30 Sep 2011

Adult male circumcision not a cost effective anti-HIV tactic, panel of economists says

A panel of economists commissioned by the Copenhagen Consensus Centre who "conducted a first-ever cost-benefit analysis of the top AIDS-fighting approaches by comparing the costs of prevention and treatment options per lives saved ... said Wednesday that adult male circumcision, a global priority for preventing HIV infection, is not nearly as cost-effective as other methods of prevention," USA Today reports.

30 Sep 2011

Food aid reaches almost half of Somalis in need but threat of disease looms, U.N. agency says

"The U.N. on Wednesday said food assistance has reached nearly half the Somalis in need, and it warned cases of diarrhea and cholera could spike with the seasonal rains expected in October," the Associated Press reports.

30 Sep 2011

Invida, Sinclair IS launch two dermatology products in seven Asia-Pacific markets

Sinclair IS Pharma Plc, the international specialty pharmaceutical company, and Invida Holdings Private Limited, a leader in the commercialisation of specialty biopharmaceutical and healthcare products throughout Asia Pacific, announce that their partnership has already led to the launch of two Sinclair IS dermatology products in seven Asia-Pacific markets.

30 Sep 2011

Disease/Infection News

Pfizer releases Phase III study results comparing VFEND-ERAXIS combination to VFEND for IA

Time to increase efforts against HIV/AIDS, TB

CMA welcomes Supreme Court ruling on Vancouver's supervised injection facility

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

USAID interviews Kenyan government staff regarding Cabinet memorandum outlining HIV program fundraising options

Baxter seeks European marketing authorization for HyQ to treat PI

Increased communication needed for TB diagnostics development

Members of MAPRx coalition urge supercommittee to protect Part D program

Study highlights importance of prior planning before introduction of new vaccines

Patients with chronic hepatitis C less likely to take medications over time

Researchers determine structure of RIG-I protein linked with viral infections

Strides being made against trypanosomiasis

Two UTA scientists win 2011 PECASE award for innovative research

Small Phase I trial shows HIV vaccine candidate is most powerful to date

Increased focus on vaccine for dengue fever is critical to curb spread of disease

GlobalPost examines how Indian city of Surat cleaned up after 1994 plague outbreak

Roads may play a major role in the spread or containment of antibiotic resistant bacteria

Adult male circumcision not a cost effective anti-HIV tactic, panel of economists says

Food aid reaches almost half of Somalis in need but threat of disease looms, U.N. agency says

Invida, Sinclair IS launch two dermatology products in seven Asia-Pacific markets

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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