Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

NIH awards La Jolla Institute $12.6M to develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening

The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening -- a breakthrough genomics technology that will further enhance San Diego's reputation as a national research leader and provide the local biomedical community ready access to the Nobel-Prize winning technology.

11 Oct 2010

Afinitor-Sandostatin LAR Depot combination extends median PFS in patients with advanced carcinoid tumors

A Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Phase III study of Afinitor® (everolimus) tablets in combination with Sandostatin® LAR Depot (octreotide acetate for injectable suspension) extended median progression-free survival (PFS), or time without tumor growth, in patients with advanced carcinoid tumors compared to taking octreotide LAR alone.

11 Oct 2010

Financing HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment could cost $400B-$700B over 20 years

A new report published by the Results for Development Institute in the Lancet "has offered governments and donors a glimpse into the future of HIV epidemics - and what it will cost to prevent and treat them. Researchers warn of hard choices ahead and a need for some countries to take more responsibility for their national programmes," IRIN/PlusNews reports. Study authors present their "cheapest" and "ideal" scenarios for HIV/AIDS funding in the future, according to IRIN/PlusNews.

11 Oct 2010

VBI researchers receive grant to study immune responses to gut pathogens

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a $10.6 million grant to researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and collaborators to determine how the human immune system responds to infection by pathogens of the gut. The funding will be used to apply mathematical modeling to the study of immune responses to gut pathogens.

11 Oct 2010

New experimental vaccine against Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created an experimental vaccine against beta-amyloid, the small protein that forms plaques in the brain and is believed to contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

11 Oct 2010

BiondVax commences Multimeric-001 flu vaccine Phase IIa clinical study

BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd., an Israeli biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of global efforts towards the development of a Universal Influenza Vaccine, today announced that it has begun to immunize subjects in a Phase IIa clinical trial of the Multimeric-001 Universal Flu Vaccine candidate. The study will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the Multimeric-001 vaccine.

11 Oct 2010

'Achilles heel' for HCV infection

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have found that an enzyme associated with the storage of fat in the liver is required for the infectious activity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). This discovery may offer a new strategy for treating the infection.

11 Oct 2010

HHS awards Sanofi Pasteur 3-year, $56.94M egg supply contract for pandemic vaccine preparedness

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, has been awarded a three-year contract for $56.94 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to maintain flocks to enable manufacturing pandemic influenza vaccine at full capacity on a year-round basis.

11 Oct 2010

Flu season looking 'typical,' CDC says

Flu activity in the Southern Hemisphere, where the flu season is ending, has been 'typical,' the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. All three types of flu that normally circulate are present, although the H1N1 'swine flu' strain that caused last year's pandemic has replaced the seasonal H1N1 strain that circulated before 2009.

11 Oct 2010

Researchers determine genetic structures of bacteria that cause Lyme disease

Researchers Dr. Steven E. Schutzer of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and Dr. Claire M. Fraser-Liggett of the Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland, and their collaborators have made a major achievement toward better understanding Lyme disease, by determining the complete genetic structures of 13 strains of the bacteria that cause the disease.

11 Oct 2010

Researchers create experimental vaccine for Alzheimer's disease

11 Oct 2010

Phase I study of Shigella dysenteriae bioconjugate vaccine meets primary, secondary endpoints

GlycoVaxyn AG, a leader in the development of innovative vaccines, announced today that the Phase I study of its Shigella dysenteriae bioconjugate vaccine has been completed and met the primary and secondary endpoints: demonstration of safety and immunogenicity.

8 Oct 2010

Survey shows obstetricians, gynecologists unfamiliar with Chagas' disease

According to recent survey results published in the October issue of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States are unfamiliar with Chagas' disease, a condition that affects an estimated 300,000 people in the United States and can cause serious cardiovascular and digestive complications.

8 Oct 2010

Spanish mothers more concerned about the safety of childhood vaccines

Researchers from the University of Alicante (UA) taking part in the European VACSATC project have studied mothers' and fathers' opinions on vaccinating their children in five countries. The results of the survey show that Spanish mothers are more resistant than those in other countries to the idea of paying for vaccines, while 20.9% expressed some concern about the safety of vaccines.

8 Oct 2010

CDC issues new universal influenza vaccination recommendation for all Americans

With the influenza vaccine already available and more supply anticipated than ever before, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases convened ten of the country's leading medical and public health groups to call on all Americans to get vaccinated this season.

8 Oct 2010

Firm sees drugs sales rising 5 to 7 percent next year, other drug industry news

The Associated Press reports that global prescription drug sales should rise 5 percent to 7 percent next year reaching at least $880 billion, fueled by new drugs and rising sales in developing countries, according to drug data firm IMS Health.

8 Oct 2010

Emergent BioSolutions and TLV form new joint venture to develop flu vaccines

Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a U.S.-based developer and manufacturer of vaccines and antibody therapies, today launched its Singapore operations.

8 Oct 2010

U.N. Secretary-General urges funding for GAVI during replenishment meeting

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged more funding for the GAVI Alliance to help achieve its childhood vaccine targets and the related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), TopNews reports.

8 Oct 2010

NIAID announces three new contracts to fund research on dengue, anthrax vaccines

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced three new contracts to fund research on vaccines to protect against emerging infectious diseases and biological threats that could be used in a terror attack. Each project focuses on simple and efficient vaccine delivery approaches that could be deployed quickly. The total funding for the three contracts could reach $68 million, depending on the successful completion of defined project milestones.

8 Oct 2010

International scientific conference explores new approaches to prevent infectious diseases

Swine flu, cancer, bioterrorism and the latest trends in countermeasures to combat these life-threatening diseases and infections are among the topics to be discussed at the upcoming New Cells for New Vaccines V: Global Perspectives international scientific conference, on October 11-13 in Wilmington, Delaware, at the Hotel du Pont.

8 Oct 2010