Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Medicago receives $3.8M as second milestone payment from U.S. DARPA for cGMP vaccine facility

Medicago USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced it has received the second milestone payment of US$3.8 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ("DARPA").

15 Mar 2011

XTIO2 presents XTI 360 ANTI-GERM SYSTEM to 83rd Academy Award-nominees

XTIO2 INC. (XTI) presented the 83rd Academy® Award-nominees with the XTI ANTI-GERM / ANTI-VOC / ANTI-ALLERGY SYSTEM, consisting of XTI 360™ Nanocoating and XTI™ Nano-Facemask. It is the world's most effective preventive measure and the best defense against germs transmitted via air and contact surfaces.

15 Mar 2011

OncoSec signs agreement with Inovio to purchase non-DNA cancer vaccine technology

OncoSec Medical Inc., a developer of innovative and proprietary medical approaches to treat solid tumor cancers with unmet medical needs, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. providing for the purchase by OncoSec of certain non-DNA vaccine technology and intellectual property relating to electroporation technology useful for electrochemical and cytokine based immune therapies for treating solid tumors.

15 Mar 2011

U.S., S. Korea in talks over how to respond to food aid request by N. Korea

The U.S. continues to evaluate whether to resume food aid to North Korea amid reports of food shortages in the country, Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Mar 2011

Researchers develop novel system to show how specific mutations can induce glioblastoma

Mutations in three pathways important for suppressing tumors cooperate to launch glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor that strikes children and adults. But new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists shows those changes alone are not sufficient to cause cancer.

15 Mar 2011

Innovative strategies to reduce infections in health-care settings

Can probiotics prevent pneumonia in patients breathing with the help of ventilators? That's just one question researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis hope to answer as part of innovative new studies to reduce infections in health-care settings.

15 Mar 2011

Study provides insight into why older adults are so vulnerable to pneumonia

A study featured on the cover of the March 15 Journal of Immunology is providing insight into why the elderly are so vulnerable to pneumonia and other bacterial infections.

15 Mar 2011

Scientists identify strategy for targeted molecular therapy in liver cancer

In a research study appearing in the journal Cancer Cell on March 14, scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and four other institutions have identified a strategy for targeted molecular therapy in liver cancer, which currently has limited treatment options and one of the worst one-year survival rates of any cancer type.

15 Mar 2011

Study provides insight into aging immune system

A study featured on the cover of the March 15 Journal of Immunology is providing insight into why the elderly are so vulnerable to pneumonia and other bacterial infections.

14 Mar 2011

ChronTech initiates ChronVac-C DNA vaccine Phase IIb study against HCV

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that its partner, ChronTech Pharma AB, has initiated a Phase IIb clinical study of its ChronVac-C DNA vaccine for hepatitis C virus, delivered by Inovio's proprietary electroporation DNA vaccine delivery technology, in combination with standard of care.

14 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

New analytic method suggests tumors grow in punctuated, staccato-like bursts

A new method of analyzing cancerous tumors developed by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suggests that tumors may not evolve gradually, but rather in punctuated or staccato-like bursts.

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

NIH awards InDevR $3 million Phase II SBIR grant for influenza-related research

InDevR announced today that it has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health in the amount of $3 million over the next 3 years.

11 Mar 2011

Genetic variant contributes to higher risk of lung cancer, increases tendency to smoke more

Norwegian researchers have discovered genes that increase not only one's risk of lung cancer, but perhaps one's urge to smoke as well. Now these researchers are working on developing a blood test for lung cancer.

11 Mar 2011

Walgreens sells Pharmacy Benefits Manager to Catalyst Health Solutions

Catalyst Health Solutions Inc said it will buy Walgreen Co's pharmacy benefits management unit for about $525 million in cash, a deal that might spur more consolidation before big generic drug launches that could boost the business.

11 Mar 2011

Researchers concerned about use of mercury-based compound in inactivated flu vaccines

As the United Nations, the European Commission, and the United States Food and Drug Administration evaluate the health and environmental risks associated with mercury, a known neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen, teratogen, and immune-system disruptor, new research continues to fuel concerns about Thimerosal, a mercury-based compound used as a preservative in inactivated flu vaccines.

11 Mar 2011

GSK announces new NovaMin-containing dental formulation for sensitive teeth

This year, for the first time, millions of Americans will be protecting their sensitive teeth with NovaMin in everyday dental products. Co-inventor Gary Hack, DDS, couldn't be happier.

11 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