Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Government and private sector must work together on HIV vaccine

The success of antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS "has fooled us into believing HIV is under control. It is not. … The fact remains that no sexually acquired infection has ever been controlled in democratic societies except by vaccines," Lawrence Corey, president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and principal investigator of the international HIV Vaccine Trials Network, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

21 Jun 2011

J.P. Morgan announces donation of £1.5M to GAVI Alliance

J.P. Morgan has today announced that it will donate £1.5 million to the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to saving children's lives and protecting people's health by increasing access to immunisation in the world's poorest countries.

21 Jun 2011

bioMD (BOD) announces new MD, new Chairman and Board

bioMD Limited (ASX:BOD), a company with assets in regenerative tissue engineering technologies today announced the appointment of a new Chairman, a new MD and other changes to its Board. This follows shareholder approval for the acquisition of Allied Medical Ltd., a company that specialises in the sales, distribution and commercialisation of medical technologies.

20 Jun 2011

Alexion begins eculizumab clinical trial in Shiga-toxin producing E. coli hemolytic uremic syndrome

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Alexion Pharma International Sàrl (APIS), announced today that the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Germany's healthcare regulatory body for biological products, has authorized initiation of an open-label clinical trial to investigate eculizumab as a treatment for patients with Shiga-toxin producing E. coli hemolytic uremic syndrome, which has resulted from infections by Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in an unusually wide outbreak in Germany that began in May.

20 Jun 2011

Novel vaccine approach for prostate cancer

Mayo Clinic investigators and collaborators from the United Kingdom cured well-established prostate tumors in mice using a human vaccine with no apparent side effects. This novel cancer treatment approach encourages the immune system to rid itself of prostate tumors without assistance from toxic chemotherapies and radiation treatments.

20 Jun 2011

Researchers use DNA library to create potential cancer vaccine

University of Leeds researchers, funded by Cancer Research UK, have used a library of DNA to create a vaccine that could be used to treat cancer, according to a study published in Nature Medicine.

20 Jun 2011

MA launches national campaign to raise awareness on meningitis

This Father's Day is a special day for Angels Dads on Meningitis (ADOM). Angel dads from across the country came together in Denver, Colorado to launch a national campaign on meningitis awareness.

20 Jun 2011

Mother and baby cytomegalovirus screening important to prevent consequences

According to health experts, pregnant women and newborns should be screened for a virus that causes brain damage and deafness. The study that appeared in the latest issue of The Medical Journal of Australia yesterday says hundreds of cases of cytomegalovirus (CMV) are likely being missed each year in Australia because of a lack of screening, denying babies treatment for the condition.

19 Jun 2011

HPV vaccine shows success in young Australian women, study says

"A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, triggered by the human papillomavirus (HPV), has helped reduce the number of teenage girls developing abnormalities in their cervix by as much as 50 percent in a study in Australia," according to a report published Friday in the Lancet, Reuters reports.

18 Jun 2011

Economist examines decade of changes in vaccine field

The Economist examines how "the past decade has seen changes in how vaccines are developed, financed and delivered - solving, at least partially, the conundrum of the vaccine market: poor regions have ample demand for vaccines but little ability to pay for them. As a result, immunisation rates in the poor world have soared."

18 Jun 2011

WHO special issue addresses economic burden of dengue in the Americas, Africa and Asia

The ten studies in this special issue document the substantial and growing burden of dengue in the Americas, Africa and Asia, and the burden of a chikungunya outbreak in India.

18 Jun 2011

Cancer vaccine shows promise

In the latest research news, a cervical cancer vaccine programme has produced the first evidence of disease prevention among treated women. This vaccine targets human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus believed to trigger cervical cancer in women.

17 Jun 2011

U.S. government's GAVI pledge took 'trade-offs' in global health portfolio

"Investments in vaccines are one of the best and most cost-effective life-saving investments for the world's children, which is why we've made tough choices and trade-offs within our current global health portfolio to make this commitment"

17 Jun 2011

Experimental vaccine shows promise for patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors

An experimental vaccine developed by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute targets overactive antigens in highly aggressive brain tumors and improves length of survival in newly diagnosed patients, according to new data that was presented in a poster session at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

17 Jun 2011

More money needed to fight health issues

"I can't help worrying that, as donors slap themselves on the back over their generosity [shown through pledges to the GAVI Alliance] …, their feelgood factor will turn into a warm glow of satisfaction at having played out their part. Problem solved," Sarah Boseley writes on the Guardian's "Global Health Blog."

17 Jun 2011

Menafrivac more effective, less expensive than older meningitis vaccines, studies say

The meningococcal vaccine MenAfriVac, which is made by the Indian generic drug company Serum Institute, is "dramatically better" at producing a protective effect among African children in three countries than "older so-called meningococcal polysaccaride vaccines, including Mencevax from GlaxoSmithKline," according to a paper describing two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports.

17 Jun 2011

Adaptimmune melanoma trial opening

Adaptimmune announced today that it has opened a Phase I/II, two cohort, open label clinical trial in metastatic melanoma at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

16 Jun 2011

Positive results from BiondVax Multimeric-001 Phase IIa trial against influenza

BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. today announced positive results from its first Phase II clinical trial of the Multimeric-001 Universal Influenza Vaccine.

16 Jun 2011

Geisinger uses mandatory approach to improve healthcare worker influenza vaccination rates

Geisinger Health System vaccinated more than 92% of all employees against influenza this season, with a modification of a mandatory program. On average, fewer than half of all healthcare workers receive flu vaccinations.

16 Jun 2011

Serious RSV infections may occur in previously healthy infants and children

For most parents, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) isn't a familiar term. But it's a common cause of serious respiratory infections with a major impact on the health of infants and young children worldwide, according to a special CDC Review Article in the June issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

16 Jun 2011