Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Mass cholera vaccination early in outbreak could stem spread of disease, studies show

"The cholera bacterium has undergone important mutations in recent years, causing longer outbreaks of the disease with increased fatalities, researchers reported on Wednesday," Reuters reports. "In a package of papers published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, they said mass vaccinations should be considered as a solution even after outbreaks have begun," the news service writes (Lyn, 1/26).

27 Jan 2011

Inviragen completes memorandum of understanding with Duke-NUS

Inviragen, and the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School announced today that they have completed a memorandum of understanding to establish a partnership between the two organizations.

27 Jan 2011

Measles warnings for Australia and New Zealand

In a flight from Brisbane that arrived in Auckland two weeks ago, a child was confirmed to have measles and has been taken to hospital. Five other cases of the virus have been confirmed. At present a further 100 cases are being investigated by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

26 Jan 2011

FDA grants BioSante Orphan Drug designation for Melanoma Cancer Vaccine

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the receipt of Orphan Drug designation for its Melanoma Cancer Vaccine in the treatment of stage IIb to IV melanoma, from the FDA's Office of Orphan Products Development. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer.

25 Jan 2011

Northwest Biotherapeutics resumes enrollment in DCVax Phase II brain cancer clinical trial

Cutting edge, patient-specific vaccine treatments like DCVax® provide for a longer life expectancy along with a better quality of life for brain cancer patients, an improvement over current conventional brain tumor treatments. "The vaccine that I received has extended the median survival of Grade IV brain cancer (GBM) from 14.6 months, with conventional treatment, to over 36 months," stated Bob Gibbs, a 7 year brain cancer survivor, who has defied the odds statistically, thanks to the experimental brain cancer vaccine DCVax®.

25 Jan 2011

ASM to host 2011 Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) will host its 2011 Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting February 6-9, 2011 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

25 Jan 2011

Glioblastoma's molecular flexibility helps resist nearly all treatment efforts

Glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer and the disease that killed Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, resists nearly all treatment efforts, even when attacked simultaneously on several fronts. One explanation can be found in the tumor cells' unexpected flexibility, discovered researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

25 Jan 2011

Vaccination campaigns to stop yellow fever spread get underway in E. Africa

Individuals traveling across East Africa on Friday were ordered to begin receiving mandatory yellow fever vaccines in an effort "to contain an outbreak of the disease in Uganda," which has sickened an estimated 190 people, resulting in 48 deaths as of Dec. 30, 2010, the Citizen reports (Ubwani, 1/22).

25 Jan 2011

Simple means of improving binding affinity of synbodies

Antibodies are watchdogs of human health, continuously prowling the body and registering minute changes associated with infection or disease with astonishing acuity. They also serve as biochemical memory banks, faithfully recording information about pathogens they encounter and efficiently storing this data for later use.

25 Jan 2011

Researchers find White-Hispanic disparities in receiving immunization against flu, pneumonia

Seniors of Hispanic descent are far less likely to become immunized against the flu or pneumonia compared to similar White seniors, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

25 Jan 2011

BMJ News examines ongoing investigation of WHO's handling of H1N1

BMJ News reports on the ongoing external investigation of the WHO's handling of the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, following recent statements to the WHO's executive board meeting by review committee chairman, Harvey Fineberg.

24 Jan 2011

Also in Global Health News: Cholera death in DR; TB vaccine study; Rising food prices

"Dominican Republic on Sunday confirmed that a 53-year-old Haitian man has become the country's first death from cholera and announced the immediate start of a broad disease control and monitoring operation" around the eastern town of Higuey where he was being treated and later died, Latin American Herald Tribune reports (1/24).

24 Jan 2011

Agenus enters research agreement with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Agenus Inc. today announced it has entered into a research agreement with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) using Agenus' proprietary cancer vaccine technology.

24 Jan 2011

Northwest Biotherapeutics resumes enrollment in DCVax Phase II clinical trial for GBM brain cancer

Northwest Biotherapeutics announced today that the Company is resuming enrollment of additional new patients into its ongoing 240-patient, double blind, randomized, placebo controlled Phase II clinical trial of DCVax for Glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer.

24 Jan 2011

Family Research Council calls for legislative action and increased oversight of abortion clinics

Family Research Council is demanding answers, increased oversight and legislative action in the wake of the arrest of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist charged with eight counts of murder, including a patient and seven newborn infants.

24 Jan 2011

Positive interim data from ongoing V5 Phase IIb imm01 trial against tuberculosis

Immune Network, a company in the business of development and commercialization of immune therapies, announced today that its newly acquired business, Immunitor, has published interim data from the ongoing Phase IIb imm01 clinical trial of V5 in tuberculosis conducted at its second site in Ukraine.

24 Jan 2011

Rotavirus vaccine significantly cuts child hospitalizations, study says

Developing and developed countries that require children to be vaccinated against rotavirus "have significantly reduced the number of children admitted to hospitals with the disease, a report showed on Thursday," Reuters reports (Kelland, 1/20).

24 Jan 2011

CRI, Oncovir sign new investment agreement to produce immunological stimulant

Cancer Research Institute, a U.S. nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to advance the science of tumor immunology and foster the discovery and development of new cancer immunotherapies, announced today that its Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund, a joint initiative with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, has completed a new investment agreement with Oncovir, a biotechnology company based in Washington, D.C., to enable the production of the immunological stimulant Hiltonol- (Poly-ICLC).

24 Jan 2011

CVAF completes new investment agreement with Oncovir for production of Hiltonol

Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI), a U.S. nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to advance the science of tumor immunology and foster the discovery and development of new cancer immunotherapies, announced today that its Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund (CVAF), a joint initiative with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR), has completed a new investment agreement with Oncovir, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Washington, D.C., to enable the production of the immunological stimulant Hiltonol® (Poly-ICLC).

21 Jan 2011

Initiative to eliminate cervical cancer in North Carolina

Patricia Gregory of Cary was only 24 years old when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Now a mother of an 11-year-old daughter, she considers herself blessed to have a child, as cervical cancer can make women unable to bear children.

21 Jan 2011