Disease/Infection News

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TLV, Emergent BioSolutions form joint venture to develop broad spectrum pandemic flu vaccine

Temasek Life Science Ventures Pte Ltd and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced their agreement to form EPIC BIO Pte Ltd, a joint venture to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a multivalent, cross-protective human vaccine to protect against influenza caused by a broad range of circulating H5 influenza strains.

12 Aug 2010

Advaxis, Vibalogics to develop storage-stable formulation for live Listeria vaccines

Advaxis, Inc., the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) immunotherapy company and Vibalogics GmbH, a German biologics manufacturing company, have agreed to co-develop a room temperature stable, processing technology for live vaccines originally engineered for Advaxis.

12 Aug 2010

Oral sex becomes common activity among young women: Study

University of Alberta researcher Brea Malacad says results from a study on oral sex indicate there is little doubt that oral sex is becoming a more common activity for young women. Study results show the act has become a fundamental part of what Malacad calls the "sexual revolution of the 21st century". And she concludes that researchers, sex educators and marketers of safer-sex paraphernalia need to catch up with the trend.

12 Aug 2010

AHF led sustained advocacy campaign leads to BMS's offer of discounts in AIDS drug pricing

Following ongoing advocacy campaigns spearheaded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) that targeted several of the largest AIDS drug companies over their pricing and rebate policies for the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), the federally funded, state run programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need, that the last remaining major AIDS drug company, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) today announced an agreement that will provide additional cost savings to cash-strapped ADAPs nationwide.

12 Aug 2010

Chimpanzee adenoviruses can be used as vaccine vectors: Research

In recent years, scientists have studied the possibility of using engineered human adenoviruses as vaccines against diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. In this approach, adenoviruses, which commonly cause respiratory-tract infections, are rendered relatively harmless before they are used as vectors to deliver genes from pathogens, which in turn stimulate the body to generate a protective immune response.

12 Aug 2010

Needle-free natural vaccine against malaria: Research

A study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine proposes that preventative treatment with affordable and safe antibiotics in people living in areas with intense malaria transmission has the potential to act as a 'needle-free' natural vaccine against malaria and may likely provide an additional valuable tool for controlling and/or eliminating malaria in resource-poor settings.

12 Aug 2010

HemaQuest commences HQK-1004 global Phase 2 clinical trial in EBV-related malignancies

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has initiated the Company's Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating its proprietary HQK-1004 therapy for the treatment of lymphomas and related cancers associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. These EBV-related cancers have poor prognoses and short patient survival. Currently available cancer therapies are typically much less effective in patients with EBV-related lymphoid malignancies than in patients who have similar cancers not infected with the virus.

11 Aug 2010

Elsevier launches Global Malaria Resource

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of Malaria Nexus, Elsevier's Global Malaria Resource, http://www.malarianexus.com.

11 Aug 2010

Study shows health care-associated invasive MRSA infections decrease among patients

An analysis of data from 2005 through 2008 of nine metropolitan areas in the U.S. indicates that health care-associated invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections decreased among patients with infections that began in the community or in the hospital, according to a study in the August 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Aug 2010

Advanced Life Sciences reaches SPA agreement with FDA for Restanza Phase 3 study

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, announced today that it has reached agreement with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) process, on the design of its planned Phase 3 study of its novel once-daily oral antibiotic Restanza to treat community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). The trial is the first prospectively designed superiority study to be conducted in CABP.

11 Aug 2010

WHO declares end of H1N1 pandemic

"World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan announced Tuesday the end of the [H1N1] swine flu pandemic, more than a year after it was declared," Agence France-Presse reports. "The world is no longer in phase 6 of influenza pandemic alert. We are now moving into the post-pandemic period," Chan said during a virtual press conference from Hong Kong, according to a WHO press release (8/10).

11 Aug 2010

NIAID launches clinical trials of dengue vaccine

After more than a decade of development, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has started clinical trials to test a vaccine to protect against the dengue virus, a product researchers hope may one day "help prevent a disease to which 2.5 billion people are exposed," CIDRAP News reports (Roos, 8/9).

11 Aug 2010

FDA approves longer Valcyte therapy for CMV disease in adult kidney transplant patients

Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved increasing the length of therapy with Valcyte (valganciclovir hydrochloride) in adult kidney transplant patients at high risk for cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease.

11 Aug 2010

Opinions: HIV prevention research; Foreign aid; Sanitation; Aid, self-reliance

"Microbicides, vaccines and other new approaches will one day join proven HIV-prevention strategies, including condoms, male circumcision and clean needles. How soon that day comes will depend on whether funders and the scientific community can develop the more collaborative approaches to HIV prevention research needed to address this fast-moving epidemic," Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise leaders Alan Bernstein, executive director, and Peter Piot, chair, write in a Globe and Mail opinion piece.

11 Aug 2010

Vertex reports results from Phase 3 ILLUMINATE study of telaprevir-based therapy for hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced results from the Phase 3 ILLUMINATE study, which was designed to evaluate whether there was any benefit to extending therapy from 24 to 48 weeks in people whose hepatitis C virus (HCV) was undetectable at weeks 4 and 12 of treatment (extended rapid viral response or eRVR).

10 Aug 2010

Acme Brazil distributes Unique by Natural Sensation condoms through Drogaria Onofre network

Acme Brasil Distribuidora e Importadora Ltda is pleased to announce that Unique by Natural Senastion brand of condoms (Unique) is now available in Drogaria Onofre. Unique is being sold in five megastores in the Onofre network, four in Sao Paulo and one in Porto Alegre.

10 Aug 2010

AHF launches new ad campaign 'President Obama, The War on AIDS Has Not Been Won'

As part of its ongoing advocacy efforts to spur President Obama and the Administration to do more on AIDS, AHF is rolling out an ad headlined "President Obama, The War on AIDS Has Not Been Won" which compares the amount of U.S. dollars spent fighting the global AIDS epidemic vs. the amount spent on the war in Afghanistan. The ad features a scale with the globe on one side and the words "Global War on AIDS: $6.5 billion in 2010" and a map of Afghanistan on the other side with the words "Afghanistan War: $102 billion in 2010."

10 Aug 2010

Scientists identify compound to inhibit wild-type HIV-1 protease

Drug resistance remains a major problem in combating HIV infection, but a different approach to drug development could be the answer.Current viral inhibitors target the HIV-1 protease function with a competitive mechanism. Writing in the BJ ChemBio Knowledge Environment of the Biochemical Journal, Max Chang and colleagues from the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, suggest that pharmaceutical companies look at compounds that use an allosteric non-competitive mechanism of inhibition.

10 Aug 2010

CQ Weekly reports on advocates' response to Obama administration's domestic, global HIV/AIDS efforts

CQ Weekly examines how HIV/AIDS advocates are "[i]Increasingly dissatisfied with [President Barack] Obama's approach, both at home and abroad." According to the article, some advocates say that Obama and congressional Democrats "have failed to show the political will and marshal the necessary resources" to fight HIV/AIDS.

10 Aug 2010

Three-year efficacy data on STELARA for psoriasis presented at American Academy of Dermatology meeting

New study findings showed that a majority of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who had a previous response to STELARA® (ustekinumab) sustained a clinical response for up to three years with continued treatment regardless of their body weight. Investigators also presented findings from an integrated safety analysis that included data from one Phase 2 and three Phase 3 trials in which treatment with STELARA demonstrated a favorable benefit-risk profile for up to three years of treatment, consistent with previous analyses.

10 Aug 2010

Disease/Infection News

TLV, Emergent BioSolutions form joint venture to develop broad spectrum pandemic flu vaccine

Advaxis, Vibalogics to develop storage-stable formulation for live Listeria vaccines

Oral sex becomes common activity among young women: Study

AHF led sustained advocacy campaign leads to BMS's offer of discounts in AIDS drug pricing

Chimpanzee adenoviruses can be used as vaccine vectors: Research

Needle-free natural vaccine against malaria: Research

HemaQuest commences HQK-1004 global Phase 2 clinical trial in EBV-related malignancies

Elsevier launches Global Malaria Resource

Study shows health care-associated invasive MRSA infections decrease among patients

Advanced Life Sciences reaches SPA agreement with FDA for Restanza Phase 3 study

WHO declares end of H1N1 pandemic

NIAID launches clinical trials of dengue vaccine

FDA approves longer Valcyte therapy for CMV disease in adult kidney transplant patients

Opinions: HIV prevention research; Foreign aid; Sanitation; Aid, self-reliance

Vertex reports results from Phase 3 ILLUMINATE study of telaprevir-based therapy for hepatitis C

Acme Brazil distributes Unique by Natural Sensation condoms through Drogaria Onofre network

AHF launches new ad campaign 'President Obama, The War on AIDS Has Not Been Won'

Scientists identify compound to inhibit wild-type HIV-1 protease

CQ Weekly reports on advocates' response to Obama administration's domestic, global HIV/AIDS efforts

Three-year efficacy data on STELARA for psoriasis presented at American Academy of Dermatology meeting

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

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