Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

SIMPONI injection improves inflammation, structural damage in RA patients

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses from two Phase 3 clinical trials showed that once every four week subcutaneous injections of SIMPONI (golimumab) 50 mg plus methotrexate resulted in statistically significant improvements in markers of inflammation and structural damage in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with placebo plus methotrexate.

9 Nov 2010

Research on immune system may help in healing chronic inflammatory diseases

Biochemists at Kiel University, along with international scientists, have identified an important messenger in the immune system. The messenger interleukin-27 plays an important role when the human body blocks inflammations.

9 Nov 2010

Research reveals EBV virus infected cell manipulates cancer-producing cells

A new discovery by UNC scientists describes how cells infected by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) produce small vesicles or sacs called exosomes, changing their cellular "cargo" of proteins and RNA. This altered exosome enters cells and can change the growth of recipient cells from benign to cancer-producing.

9 Nov 2010

NUVO announces positive results from WF10 Phase 2 clinical trial for severe allergic rhinitis

Nuvo Research Inc. a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of drug products that are delivered into and through the skin using its topical and transdermal drug delivery technologies and on the development of its immune modulating drug candidate WF10, today announced that its European Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating WF10 as a treatment for severe allergic rhinitis met its primary endpoint.

8 Nov 2010

Maternal peanut consumption during pregnancy increases peanut allergy risk in children

Babies born to mothers who eat peanuts during pregnancy appear more prone to peanut allergy, according to research conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and elsewhere and published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The research team was led by Scott Sicherer, M.D., of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

8 Nov 2010

Anti-TNF therapies may reduce Alzheimer's risk among people with rheumatoid arthritis

Anti-TNF therapies commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis have been found to potentially reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's dementia among people with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

Research on immune system may help develop improved vaccines for cancer

Researchers at the University of Cambridge hope to revolutionise cancer therapy after discovering one of the reasons why many previous attempts to harness the immune system to treat cancerous tumours have failed.

8 Nov 2010

New findings could help scientists devise optimal therapies for Friedreich's ataxia

Scripps Research Institute scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the cause of Friedreich's ataxia, a debilitating neurological condition that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide, and so far has no cure.

8 Nov 2010

Provectus presents PV-10 Phase 2 clinical trial data for metastatic melanoma at Sydney Congress

Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company, presented positive preliminary data from fully monitored study data for the entire study population of 80 subjects in its Phase 2 clinical trial of PV-10 for metastatic melanoma.

8 Nov 2010

Scientists discover new way to create human blood from adult skin

In an important breakthrough, scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to make human blood from adult human skin. The discovery, published in the prestigious science journal Nature today, could mean that in the foreseeable future people needing blood for surgery, cancer treatment or treatment of other blood conditions like anemia will be able to have blood created from a patch of their own skin to provide transfusions.

7 Nov 2010

Halozyme awarded $977,917 grant under Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix, today announced the award of four grants totaling $977,917 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program. The grant funding will support Halozyme's ongoing Ultrafast Insulin, PEGPH20, HTI-501, and drug delivery development programs that are directed at addressing unmet medical needs across a broad range of therapeutic areas such as diabetes, cancer and immunology.

4 Nov 2010

Scientists identify events that causes AD progression

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) have offered new information about the events that underlie the "spread" of Alzheimer's disease (AD) throughout the brain.

4 Nov 2010

Phase III study suggests CYCLOSET tablets improve glycemic control

Santarus, Inc. and VeroScience LLC today announced that analyses of 379-patient subset data from a 3,070-patient Phase III safety study conducted with CYCLOSET (bromocriptine mesylate) tablets suggested that CYCLOSET as an add-on to oral antidiabetes drugs produced improvements in glycemic control irrespective of baseline duration of disease.

4 Nov 2010

CR4354 antibody uses crosslinking mechanism to neutralize West Nile virus

Researchers have learned the structure that results when an antibody binds to the West Nile virus, neutralizing the virus by locking up its infection mechanism. The information could help scientists develop a vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease.

3 Nov 2010

Tolerx establishes Scientific Advisory Board to advance type 1 diabetes study

Tolerx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer by modulating T cell activity, announced today that it has established a Scientific Advisory Board to help advance the company's research and clinical studies in type 1 diabetes.

3 Nov 2010

Talecris announces launch of PROLASTIN-C in Canada

Talecris Biotherapeutics announced today the Canadian launch of PROLASTIN®-C (Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor [Human])(A1PI), a more concentrated and purified formulation of PROLASTIN®, the only approved alpha1-augmentation therapy in Canada for more than 20 years. PROLASTIN-C delivers twice the active protein per milliliter as PROLASTIN, cutting the infusion volume and time in half when given at the recommended rate of 0.08 mL/kg/min.

3 Nov 2010

Virus fighting just got a new boost

In a ground breaking study in the UK researchers have identified a previously unknown mechanism that allows the immune system to fight viruses even after they have infected cells. Until now it was believed that antibodies can act only before the virus enters the cells. The team now has found that antibodies that attached themselves to a virus were able to follow it into cells and help to destroy the virus before it started to reproduce. This could open up new avenues of therapy.

2 Nov 2010

Type of contrast agent influences changes in stem cell proliferation

When researchers tested three different labeling agents on three different stem cell populations to determine what effect the labeling agents had on stem cell phenotype, biological behavior and migration abilities, they found changes in stem cell proliferation depending on the type of contrast agent used.

2 Nov 2010

Valeant, Kadmon enter strategic agreement for taribavirin and ribavirin

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. and Kadmon Pharmaceuticals LLC have concluded two strategic agreements for the development and commercialization of taribavirin and the commercial marketing of ribavirin in the treatment of viral diseases, including hepatitis C virus (HCV).

1 Nov 2010

Mechanism of rogue cell killer discovered

A team of Melbourne and London researchers have shown how a protein called perforin punches holes in, and kills, rogue cells in our bodies. Their discovery of the mechanism of this assassin is published today in the science journal Nature.

1 Nov 2010