Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Researchers discover new HIV-suppressing protein

Scientists have identified a new HIV-suppressing protein in the blood of people infected with the virus. In laboratory studies, the protein, called CXCL4 or PF-4, binds to HIV such that it cannot attach to or enter a human cell.

30 May 2012

Pre-harvest vaccines for management of E. coli in Canadian beef receive favourable conclusion

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced that a Public Health Agency of Canada study assessing the effects of various interventions on the management of E. coli O157:H7 in Canadian beef came to a favourable conclusion with regard to pre-harvest vaccines such as the Company's Econiche cattle vaccine.

29 May 2012

Neighborhood immunity has a role in determining risk of dengue infection

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of a role for neighborhood immunity in determining risk of dengue infection.

29 May 2012

Enrollment complete in Advaxis’ ADXS-HPV Phase 2 trial for cervical cancer

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, announced today that it has completed enrollment in Lm-LLO-E7-15, the 110 patient, randomized Phase 2 trial of ADXS-HPV in women with recurrent/refractory cervical cancer who have failed cytotoxic therapy.

29 May 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

28 May 2012

Unrestricted sales into prenatal health announced by Fluidigm

Fluidigm Corporation has announced that it can now offer unrestricted sales of its digital PCR and other advanced technology to customers interested in pursuing research and product development into the prenatal health and non-invasive prenatal diagnostics fields, as well as other fields.

28 May 2012

Rwanda accelerates fight against rotavirus

Rwanda today accelerated its fight against rotavirus, the primary cause of deadly diarrhea in young children, when it became the fourth African country to introduce new rotavirus vaccines only recently made available to developing countries. Rotavirus is the primary cause of diarrhea in children. In Rwanda, diarrhea accounts for approximately 23% of child deaths.

28 May 2012

World Health Assembly endorses Global Vaccine Action Plan

Ministers of Health from 194 countries at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly today endorsed a landmark Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a roadmap to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities.

28 May 2012

Senate Appropriations Committee approves FY13 state and foreign operations appropriations bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $52.1 billion appropriations bill to fund U.S. state and foreign operations in FY 2013, Devex reports. "The committee voted 29-1 to send the ... bill to the full Senate floor for consideration," the news service writes, adding, "It is still unclear when the bill will be scheduled for a full Senate vote" (Mungcal, 5/25).

25 May 2012

Capitol Hill briefing addresses research agenda to end AIDS epidemic

In a guest blog post on the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks," Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy at amfAR: The Foundation for AIDS Research, and Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, summarize a Capitol Hill briefing "on the research agenda for beginning to end the AIDS epidemic" that took place Wednesday.

25 May 2012

Merck welcomes launch of ROTATEQ in Rwanda of Africa’s rotavirus vaccination program

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, welcomes today's launch in Rwanda of Africa's first national rotavirus vaccination program with ROTATEQ (rotavirus vaccine, live, oral, pentavalent), Merck's vaccine for the prevention of rotavirus disease.

25 May 2012

MIT researchers engineer new jet-injection system

MIT researchers have engineered a device that delivers a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine through the skin without the use of a hypodermic needle. The device can be programmed to deliver a range of doses to various depths - an improvement over similar jet-injection systems that are now commercially available.

25 May 2012

Researchers uncover series of biological events that implicate stem cells' surroundings

Stem cells are essential building blocks for all organisms, from plants to humans. They can divide and renew themselves throughout life, differentiating into the specialized tissues needed during development, as well as cells necessary to repair adult tissue.

25 May 2012

New method can screen for bacterial genes that are expressed during meningitis

Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the protective membrane that covers the spinal cord and brain. Children, elderly patients and immunocompromised patients are at a higher risk for the development of severe bacterial meningitis. Recently, researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia sought to identify new vaccine targets in Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the world.

25 May 2012

Experts, advocates urge continued funding for research into HIV, TB vaccines

"[P]articipants at a symposium held last week by the U.K. Consortium on AIDS and International Development warned that progress on HIV and tuberculosis (TB) vaccines could be jeopardized by the recent downturn in global health funding," BMJ reports.

24 May 2012

IRIN examines WHO process of translating research results into policy recommendations

IRIN examines the WHO's regulatory approval process for making evidence-based recommendations, noting, "Governments will generally not implement an intervention without the WHO stamp of approval."

24 May 2012

HVTN opens enrollment in GeoVax’s GM-CSF adjuvanted vaccine Phase 1 trial for HIV

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based biopharmaceutical firm developing vaccines to prevent and fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections, today announced that the NIH-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) has opened enrollment for a Phase 1 trial for the company's second-generation HIV vaccine.

23 May 2012

B cells in breast milk can produce HIV-neutralizing antibodies

Antibodies that help to stop the HIV virus have been found in breast milk. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center isolated the antibodies from immune cells called B cells in the breast milk of infected mothers in Malawi, and showed that the B cells in breast milk can generate neutralizing antibodies that may inhibit the virus that causes AIDS.

23 May 2012

Special feature of Science journal highlights protein array technology

A special feature in this week's issue of the journal Science highlights protein array technology, touching on research conducted by Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute's Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics.

23 May 2012

H1N1 flu vaccination during pregnancy provides unanticipated benefits to the baby

Getting a flu shot during pregnancy provides unanticipated benefits to the baby, according to the authors of a large population-based study examining the issue. Specifically, the study showed that H1N1 vaccination during the pandemic was associated with a significantly reduced risk of stillbirth, preterm birth and extremely small babies at birth.

23 May 2012