Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

MSD establishes Asia Research & Development headquarters in Beijing

Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the establishment of an Asia Research & Development (R&D) headquarters for innovative drug discovery and development located in Beijing, China.

6 Dec 2011

S. Korea resumes aid through UNICEF to N. Korea

"South Korea said on Monday that it would send 6.5 billion won, or $5.7 million, in aid to North Korea through UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency," the New York Times reports.

6 Dec 2011

Wall Street Journal examines potential implications of allegedly fake U.S. vaccination campaign in Pakistan

The Wall Street Journal reports on how "a reportedly fake vaccination campaign conducted by the U.S. to help hunt down Osama bin Laden has caused a backlash against international health workers in some parts of Pakistan and has impeded efforts to wipe out polio in the country," one of only four worldwide where polio remains endemic.

6 Dec 2011

Measles raises its head again in Europe after years of suppression: Report

According to a new report last Thursday, measles incidence is on the rise in Europe following decades of decline. Up to October European health officials reported more than 26,000 measles cases this year and nine deaths.

5 Dec 2011

Novartis to showcase 160 presentations on breast cancer, hematological disease drugs at SABCS and ASH

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will showcase more than one hundred and sixty presentations on data from its robust oncology portfolio at two key medical congresses this month, demonstrating significant advances for patients with cancers and hematological diseases.

3 Dec 2011

Product Development Partnerships 'essential' in fight against global diseases

"If the momentum gained in the last few years" in fighting global diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, measles, and meningitis "is any indicator of our future trajectory, we are standing on the threshold of a revolutionary change in the state of global health," Wendy Taylor, senior adviser of Innovative Finance and Public Private Partnerships at USAID, and David Cook, executive vice president and COO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI),

3 Dec 2011

Latin American, Caribbean national rotavirus immunization campaigns show success, CDC report says

"Fourteen of the 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean make the rotavirus vaccine available for all infants via national programs," according to a report published Friday in the CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report," United Press International reports.

3 Dec 2011

Multipronged approach needed to conquer malaria

"A malaria vaccine could be a powerful new tool," but "[c]ontrolling mosquitoes and diagnosing malaria remain essential. Among the highest priorities now is to develop new methods to do both," a Bloomberg editorial states.

3 Dec 2011

Baby boomers more likely to develop HCV

Experts at Montefiore Medical Center urge the general public to be tested for the Hepatitis C virus, especially baby boomers, adults born between 1946-1964, who could be most at risk for this disease. Baby boomers are more likely to have been exposed to dangerous risk factors decades ago, such as sharing a drug needle, being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools or receiving a tainted blood transfusion.

2 Dec 2011

Financial Times, IPS report on male circumcision as HIV prevention strategy

Male circumcision is "a practice that -- despite the evidence -- has yet to be adopted as much or as fast as experts had hoped," the Financial Times reports.

2 Dec 2011

Treatments for lymphoma with no side effects

Larry Conrad went in for his annual physical on his 50th birthday. During his exam, his doctor found swollen lymph nodes in his armpits and groin. Conrad had a cough and said he'd lost weight because he 'felt full all the time'. His doctor ordered a series of tests, and Conrad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the most common type.

2 Dec 2011

'Simple solutions' available to improve family health

"Although advances in vaccines, nutrition and family health have dramatically reduced the number of child deaths in the past 50 years, nearly eight million children younger than five still die every year," Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in this CNN opinion piece.

2 Dec 2011

GE Healthcare invests in C8 MediSensors to focus on disease management solutions

GE Capital and GE Healthcare, the financial services and healthcare divisions of General Electric Company, announced today an investment in C8 MediSensors, Inc., a privately held developer of non-invasive continuous glucose monitors for diabetic patients.

2 Dec 2011

Mutation on surface of human red blood cells provides protection against vivax malaria

A mutation on the surface of human red blood cells provides protection against malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax, research led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine shows.

2 Dec 2011

Idera receives FDA notification to proceed with IMO-3100 Phase 2 clinical trial for psoriasis

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the receipt of verbal notification from the Food and Drug Administration that the company may proceed with a Phase 2 clinical trial of IMO-3100 in patients with psoriasis based on a trial protocol submitted by the company in October 2011.

2 Dec 2011

Celldex launches rindopepimut Phase 3 trial in EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has launched a pivotal, randomized, double-blind, controlled Phase 3 trial of rindopepimut in patients with surgically resected epidermal growth factor variant III (EGFRvIII)-positive glioblastoma, the "ACT IV Study."

1 Dec 2011

Even those with egg allergies should receive the flu vaccine

With the coughing, sneezing and achy flu season upon us, new recommendations say that even those with egg allergies should receive the flu vaccine.

1 Dec 2011

NTD awareness during the 2012 elections

Peter Hotez of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Karen Goraleski of the Sabin Vaccine Institute write in this PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) editorial, "In the next year leading up to the U.S. presidential and congressional elections, the global NTD community has an important opportunity to present the case for NTD funding to remain as an essential component of U.S. international development assistance."

1 Dec 2011

Statens Serum Institut, Aeras initiate new candidate TB vaccine Phase I trial

Statens Serum Institut and Aeras today announce the initiation of the first Phase I clinical trial of a new candidate TB vaccine designed to protect people latently infected with TB from developing active TB disease.

1 Dec 2011

Harvard SEAS, BASF to co-host symposium on pharmaceutical nanoformulations

From targeted cancer chemotherapy to the guarantee of successful organ transplants, the 21st century may prove to be the age of big ideas in medicine. The drugs themselves, though, will be miniscule. Experts in chemistry, applied physics, materials science, and pharmaceutical science are gathering this week for the BASF Advanced Research Initiative at Harvard University's symposium on pharmaceutical nanoformulations.

1 Dec 2011