Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

CRI, MedImmune partner to advance cancer immunotherapy research

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and MedImmune, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, today announced that they have signed a collaboration agreement to advance the research of immunotherapy in cancer.

10 Oct 2012

GSK, Aeras to advance clinical development of TB vaccine

Aeras announces that it has signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, S.A. (GSK) to jointly advance the clinical development of an investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine containing GSK's proprietary M72 antigen and AS01E adjuvant.

10 Oct 2012

Roundup: Labor activist's work for Blue Shield raises conflict concerns; R.I. to mandate flu shots for health workers; Minn. safety net hospitals brace for cuts

At a time when public-sector unions across the country are fighting to hold on to generous retirement and health benefits, one of the loudest voices standing up for their rights is Dave Low. A longtime labor activist, Low carries considerable clout as executive director of the California School Employees Assn., a 215,000-member union that represents bus drivers, custodians and other school workers.

10 Oct 2012

Myths about the influenza vaccine

With cold and flu season upon us, many companies have geared up for what is predicted to be a busy flu season producing 150 million doses of the influenza vaccine, up 17 million from last year.

9 Oct 2012

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health epidemiologist receives Dean's Medal honor

Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has awarded the Dean's Medal-the School's highest honor-to William Foege, MD, MPH. Foege is a celebrated epidemiologist and physician who played a leading role in many of the important public health campaigns of the past half-century, including efforts to eradicate smallpox and to control onchocerciasis (the cause of river blindness) and guinea worm.

8 Oct 2012

Incidence of needlestick injuries appears to be lower among employees at retail pharmacy chain

Vaccinations for flu, tetanus and other common vaccines are increasingly taking place in non-medical settings such as supermarkets and drug stores. This added responsibility for pharmacists increases the risk of needlestick injuries (NSIs), puncture wounds often suffered while preparing or after use of a needle. NSIs can transmit bloodborne pathogens, including hepatitis C and HIV, from an infected patient to the person administering the vaccine.

8 Oct 2012

Significant increase in genomic Replikin Count of human SARS virus

The identification of the virus responsible for a second case of SARS-like respiratory virus, "London1_novel CoV 2012", has raised concerns over the risk of the disease spreading. These concerns may be justified given the observed rise in virus's genomic Replikin Count.

6 Oct 2012

Government investment in eye examinations may boost the economy

Governments could add thousands of millions of dollars to the global economy simply by investing in eye examinations and the provision of glasses for some 703 million people who need them, according to a study published this month in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

6 Oct 2012

Vaccination campaign in Africa aims to protect 50M people against meningitis

"A huge vaccination campaign to protect 50 million people against meningitis has been launched in seven African countries aiming to stamp out the deadly virus, health officials said on Thursday," Sapa/AFP/IOL News reports.

6 Oct 2012

Bivalent HPV vaccine has cross-protective effect, but could wane over time

The bivalent vaccine for human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 appears to be more efficacious against outcomes associated with nonvaccine types 31, 33, and 45 than its quadrivalent counterpart, show results of a systematic review and meta-analysis.

5 Oct 2012

Emergent receives BARDA contract to advance development of novel rPA anthrax vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions announced today that, after completion of an inter-agency In Process Review, the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has exercised a contract option to further advance the development of PreviThrax (Recombinant Protective Antigen Anthrax Vaccine, Purified), the company's novel rPA anthrax vaccine candidate.

5 Oct 2012

Britons least likely to adopt protective behaviours against flu

A new international survey published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases has revealed that during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, people in Britain lagged far behind other countries in adopting protective behaviours, such as increasing their practice of covering their mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing.

5 Oct 2012

Top-line data from Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 Phase 3 trial on pneumococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. today announced top-line data assessing immunogenicity, tolerability and safety of Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, absorbed]) in adults 18 to 49 years of age.

5 Oct 2012

Cellectis, Medicago complete first step in therapeutic protein research collaboration

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus Like Particles, and Cellectis plant sciences, a US-based subsidiary of Cellectis Group, the specialist in genome engineering, today announced the successful completion of the first step in their research collaboration to improve therapeutic proteins produced in tobacco plants.

4 Oct 2012

HIV prevention, vaccine research progressing

In a guest post on the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, Margaret McGlynn, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), and William Snow, director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, discuss the recent AIDS Vaccine 2012 Conference that was held in Boston.

3 Oct 2012

Trauma surgeons identify reasons why young pedestrians are struck by motor vehicles

Trauma surgeons have identified two preventable reasons why young pedestrians are struck by motor vehicles—poor guardian supervision and distraction because of mobile device use.

3 Oct 2012

Mothers’ CD4 cells ‘remember’ their babies

A breakthrough in understanding a mother’s immune response during pregnancy suggests a new direction for treating autoimmune diseases.

2 Oct 2012

BHGI sponsors global summit on international breast health

For women with breast cancer in low- and middle-resource countries and other medically underserved areas around the world, the need for supportive care and the consideration of quality-of-life issues are often overlooked.

2 Oct 2012

October issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The October issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on the stockpiling oral cholera vaccine, a public health news roundup, a research article on rotavirus mortality in India, and an article examining a "new entity for the negotiation of public procurement prices for patented medicines in Mexico," among others.

2 Oct 2012

Partnerships key to ending preventable child deaths

"I'm encouraged by the focus on children's health alongside other pressing global issues" at the U.N. General Assembly meeting last week, Dagfinn Hoybraten, vice president of the Norwegian Parliament and chair of the GAVI Alliance Board, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, adding, "These discussions come in the wake of UNICEF's latest report on declines in child mortality around the world."

2 Oct 2012