Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Goal of near-zero malaria deaths attainable with continued will, resources

In this TIME "Ideas" opinion piece, David Bowen, CEO of Malaria No More, writes that with the right resources and political will, an end to malaria is possible.

15 Dec 2011

M. pneumoniae CARDS toxin plays a critical role in asthma

Five years ago, microbiologists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio discovered the toxin produced by a common respiratory bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Joel Baseman, Ph.D., who led the discovery, said at the time that the toxin's presence in humans could be causing as many as 40 percent of all asthma cases.

15 Dec 2011

Debate on freedom of speech regarding vaccines at Woodford Folk Festival

The Woodford Folk Festival is one of Australia's largest and most popular festivals with approximately 130,000 people attending over six days and six nights. On this year's speakers list is anti-vaccine lobbyist Meryl Dorey, spokesperson for the Northern NSW-based Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

15 Dec 2011

CSIS High-Level Forum discusses vaccines

The Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) blog SmartGlobalHealth.org describes the second CSIS High-Level Forum on U.S. Leadership in Global Health, which "placed a focus on vaccines as instruments of U.S. global leadership in pursuit of security and economic interests at home and abroad, in close enduring partnerships with corporations, foundations, multilateral organizations, and other countries."

15 Dec 2011

Fresh cells can pep talk immune cells exhausted by HIV or hepatitis C

Chronic infections by viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C eventually take hold because they wear the immune system out, a phenomenon immunologists describe as exhaustion.

14 Dec 2011

Researchers create vaccine that reduces tumors in mice

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and the University of Georgia (UGA) have developed a vaccine that dramatically reduces tumors in a mouse model that mimics 90 percent of human breast and pancreatic cancer cases - including those that are resistant to common treatments.

14 Dec 2011

Statins linked with reduced risk of death among hospitalized flu patients

The two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza.

14 Dec 2011

ImmusanT secures $20M in Series A financing

ImmusanT, Inc. announced today it has raised $20 million in Series A financing from Vatera Healthcare Partners LLC to advance development of the biotechnology company's immunotherapeutic vaccine Nexvax2, companion diagnostic and monitoring tool for celiac disease.

14 Dec 2011

Mandatory vaccination policy increases healthcare worker flu vaccination rates

A California hospital raised its employee influenza vaccination rate above 90 percent by shifting from a voluntary vaccination program to one mandating all healthcare workers either get vaccinated or wear a mask at work for the entire flu season (December through March).

13 Dec 2011

DNA sequencing identifies new altered genes that drive CLL

The most comprehensive search to date of DNA abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has unearthed several new altered genes that drive this common blood cancer, a finding that could potentially help doctors predict whether an individual patient's disease will progress rapidly or remain indolent for years, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.

13 Dec 2011

Research describes advantages of new vaccine adjuvant

New research from the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Leadbetter at the Trudeau Institute may lead to a whole new class of vaccines. Dr. Leadbetter's lab has discovered new properties of a potential vaccine adjuvant that suggest it could be useful for enhancing protection against a number of different infections.

13 Dec 2011

Only with universal access will power of vaccines be fully harnessed

In this entry in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, Orin Levine of the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) recounts recent progress in expanding vaccine access to the world's poor and highlights current and recent vaccine access projects led by the GAVI Alliance and IVAC.

13 Dec 2011

Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad to introduce new meningitis vaccine

"The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said that Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, who are in the 'meningitis belt' stretching across Africa, will this month introduce a new vaccine designed to eliminate a particular strain of the often deadly disease," Afrique en ligne reports.

13 Dec 2011

Scientists create antigenic myeloma peptide 'cocktail'

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have created a "cocktail" of immune-stimulating peptides they believe could provoke the body's defenses to attack multiple myeloma in its early "smoldering" phase and slow or prevent the blood cancer.

13 Dec 2011

Study describes new method that synthesizes novel anti-HIV protein

The most abundant and important molecules in all living organisms are proteins; after all they manage to participate in every single one of life's essential reactions. So it is easy to see why scientists have been making such a fuss trying to learn how to synthesise them in laboratory as this would provide them with a tool of extraordinary potential. Unfortunately, this has not proved easy.

13 Dec 2011

Quintiles launches Kun Tuo to service unique needs of biopharma companies in China

Further deepening its commitment to China, Quintiles today announced the launch of Kun Tuo, a local contract research organization (CRO) built to service the unique needs of the Chinese biopharmaceutical industry and multinational biopharma companies operating in China.

13 Dec 2011

Parents blame swine flu vaccine for son’s narcolepsy

A six year old boy’s parents have claimed that he developed narcolepsy after a swine flu vaccination. Caroline Hadfield said son Josh lost muscle control and started sleeping up to 19 hours a day three weeks after being given Pandemrix nearly two years ago.

12 Dec 2011

Alzheimer’s disease vaccine developed by Australian scientists

Scientists from the University of Sydney on Saturday have announced that they have developed a vaccine to help halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease of humans. The progress of neurodegenerative condition affects more than 35 million people worldwide.

12 Dec 2011

Soligenix reports results from orBec Phase 2 trial on acute GVHD

Soligenix, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company, announced the publication of results from its investigator-initiated Phase 2 "proof-of-concept" exploratory clinical trial of orBec for the prevention of acute Graft-versus-Host disease (GVHD) in patients undergoing myeloablative conditioning regimens with initiation of dosing prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and continuing through the post-transplantation period.

12 Dec 2011

Technique expands scarce resources used for cord blood transplant procedure

A new method to boost the number of immune cells in umbilical cord blood prior to cord blood transplants for cancer patients appears to lead to a quicker rebuilding of a new immune system in the patient's body than with a conventional cord blood transplant procedure, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the 53rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

12 Dec 2011