Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

New evidence supports possible link between XMRV and prostate cancer

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been the subject of many studies since its discovery in 2006, but conflicting reports have created an unclear picture of XMRV's role in human disease. In three recent studies published in the November 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online, the evidence supports a possible link between XMRV and prostate cancer but not other links involving chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV infection, or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

13 Oct 2010

Researchers develop new therapy to overcome tissue incompatibility in kidney transplantation

Donor kidneys can be successfully transplanted even if there is strong tissue incompatibility between donor and recipient. An interdisciplinary working group headed by Dr. Christian Morath, senior consultant at the Department of Nephrology at Heidelberg University Hospital (Medical Director: Professor Dr. Martin Zeier) and Professor Dr. Caner S-sal, head of antibody laboratory in the Department of Transplantation Immunology, showed in a study of 34 sensitized high-risk patients that the success rate in these patients was not different from the success rate of patients with a low immunological risk.

13 Oct 2010

ACE educational program launched to promote awareness on anaphylaxis

Many of the approximately 1,500 deaths in the U.S. each year due to anaphylaxis, a sudden serious allergic reaction, could be prevented if more people knew the symptoms and the immediate treatment needed to survive.

12 Oct 2010

Scripps Research study findings could transform drug development to produce more effective treatments

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered new evidence that challenges the current theory about a process key to the way modern drugs are designed and how they work in the human body.

12 Oct 2010

UCB, Synosia Therapeutics announce new strategic partnership in neurology

UCB and Synosia Therapeutics announced today a new strategic partnership in neurology. Synosia has granted UCB a license for exclusive, worldwide rights to the development compound SYN-115 and rights to a second compound, SYN-118, for non-orphan indications. Both are in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

12 Oct 2010

Researchers investigate mechanism of immune system to decipher gut-dwelling worms

A billion people living in underdeveloped areas around the world are infected with parasitic helminthes, worms that survive by residing in and feeding on their hosts. These infestations can cause chronic intestinal (and occasionally systemic) illnesses leading to long-term disability. Irah King and Markus Mohrs, biomedical researchers at the Trudeau Institute, are investigating illnesses caused by these gut-dwelling worms in an effort to decipher how immune cells send and receive signals that determine the specific immune response to mount.

12 Oct 2010

ImaginAb and Imanet enter master service agreement for pre-clinical and clinical imaging

ImaginAb, Inc. and Imanet have signed a master service agreement for pre-clinical and clinical imaging. This agreement supports the development strategy for ImaginAb's pipeline of next generation diagnostic imaging agents based on recombinant antibody fragments. The Imanet™ network of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging sites provides assistance in all aspects of PET imaging-based clinical trials: from proof-of-concept radiochemistry to clinical imaging, with more than 40 PET research tracers.

11 Oct 2010

Boehringer Ingelheim announces results from afatinib clinical trials at 35th ESMO

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today results from two clinical trials for its investigational cancer compound afatinib* (BIBW 2992) presented at the 35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Milan, Italy.

11 Oct 2010

COU-AA-301 Phase 3 study demonstrates improvement in CRPC survival rate

Results from a pre-specified interim analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study, COU-AA-301, demonstrate that patients treated with the investigational agent abiraterone acetate plus low-dose prednisone/prednisolone showed a significant improvement in overall survival compared to patients treated with prednisone/prednisolone plus placebo.

11 Oct 2010

Novel hormonal treatments may help ER-negative breast cancer patients: Study

Women who have estrogen (ER) negative breast cancer may have more drug treatment options than previously thought, a Creighton (pronounced Cray-ton) University study suggests. The study is reported in the Oct. 11 online version of the journal Oncogene.

11 Oct 2010

NIH awards La Jolla Institute $12.6M to develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening

The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening -- a breakthrough genomics technology that will further enhance San Diego's reputation as a national research leader and provide the local biomedical community ready access to the Nobel-Prize winning technology.

11 Oct 2010

VBI researchers receive grant to study immune responses to gut pathogens

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a $10.6 million grant to researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and collaborators to determine how the human immune system responds to infection by pathogens of the gut. The funding will be used to apply mathematical modeling to the study of immune responses to gut pathogens.

11 Oct 2010

University of Missouri creates National Botanical Research Center with $7.5M NIH grant

Americans spend $25 billion a year on dietary supplement products such as herbs and other botanicals. While the Nutrition Business Journal forecasts that sales of botanical dietary supplements will increase by about 19 percent over the next five years, scientists still don't know the precise properties that make certain plants helpful or harmful to humans. Now, with a new $7.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, University of Missouri researchers have created a National Botanical Research Center to answer these questions.

11 Oct 2010

'Achilles heel' for HCV infection

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have found that an enzyme associated with the storage of fat in the liver is required for the infectious activity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). This discovery may offer a new strategy for treating the infection.

11 Oct 2010

ABMS awarded HHS contract to align meaningful use of HIT, ABMS MOC program

The American Board of Medical Specialties announced today a contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to align the meaningful use of health information technology and the ABMS Maintenance of Certification program, which was created by ABMS and its 24 Member Boards to promote lifelong learning and self assessment for physician specialists. The contract was awarded by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for HIT.

8 Oct 2010

University of Colorado receives $6.3 million for umbilical cord blood bank

The University of Colorado Cord Blood Bank, a component of ClinImmune Labs and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has been awarded $6.3 million to collect and bank umbilical cord blood, with an emphasis on donors from minority groups.

8 Oct 2010

Privigen IVIg therapy effective for primary, secondary immunodeficiencies: Study

Privigen, the first and only 10% liquid intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy stabilized with proline, is effective and well tolerated in patients with several primary and secondary immunodeficiencies, according to data presented today at the XIVth Meeting of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies. Results also demonstrate that Privigen offers significant protection against infection.

7 Oct 2010

Study on B-cell receptors may help develop new treatment strategies for leukaemia

In order to track down pathogens and render them harmless, the immune system must be able to recognize myriad different foreign substances and react to them. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies BIOSS at the University of Freiburg have discovered how the immune system's B-cells can be activated by numerous substances from our environment.

7 Oct 2010

Trekkers and climbers face high risk for Acute Mountain Sickness

Climbers of high peaks such as Mount Kilimanjaro are at high risk for Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Trekkers should not ignore AMS warning signs, which can progress to more serious medical outcomes.

7 Oct 2010

Scientists develop first screening method to identify river blindness disease

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have developed the first screening method that rapidly identifies individuals with active river blindness, a parasitic disease that afflicts an estimated 37 million people. The test could change the current strategy of mass treatment in areas where river blindness, also known as onchocerciasis, is suspected.

7 Oct 2010

Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

New evidence supports possible link between XMRV and prostate cancer

Researchers develop new therapy to overcome tissue incompatibility in kidney transplantation

ACE educational program launched to promote awareness on anaphylaxis

Scripps Research study findings could transform drug development to produce more effective treatments

UCB, Synosia Therapeutics announce new strategic partnership in neurology

Researchers investigate mechanism of immune system to decipher gut-dwelling worms

ImaginAb and Imanet enter master service agreement for pre-clinical and clinical imaging

Boehringer Ingelheim announces results from afatinib clinical trials at 35th ESMO

COU-AA-301 Phase 3 study demonstrates improvement in CRPC survival rate

Novel hormonal treatments may help ER-negative breast cancer patients: Study

NIH awards La Jolla Institute $12.6M to develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening

VBI researchers receive grant to study immune responses to gut pathogens

University of Missouri creates National Botanical Research Center with $7.5M NIH grant

'Achilles heel' for HCV infection

ABMS awarded HHS contract to align meaningful use of HIT, ABMS MOC program

University of Colorado receives $6.3 million for umbilical cord blood bank

Privigen IVIg therapy effective for primary, secondary immunodeficiencies: Study

Study on B-cell receptors may help develop new treatment strategies for leukaemia

Trekkers and climbers face high risk for Acute Mountain Sickness

Scientists develop first screening method to identify river blindness disease

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