Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Survey: Majority of U.S. pharmaceutical companies develop drugs for mental illness

Pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies in New Jersey, California, New York and North Carolina are responsible for 192 of the 313 medicines in development today to treat mental illnesses, a new survey shows.

16 Aug 2010

Inovio Pharmaceuticals 2010 second quarter net loss decreases

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.Total revenue was $1.1 million and $2.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010, compared to $2.5 million and $2.9 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009, respectively.

16 Aug 2010

Mathematical model projects potential impact of current tools fighting malaria in Africa

Current tools for combating malaria, such as artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and increasing coverage of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) insecticide-treated bednets (ITN) "could dramatically reduce the burden of malignant malaria on parts of Africa if a comprehensive, sustained intervention programme were in place," according to a study published this week in PLoS Medicine, CORDIS News reports.

16 Aug 2010

Adverse effects in childhood lead to immune impairment later in life

The emotional pains we suffer in childhood can lead to weakened immune systems later in life, according to a new study.Based on this new research, the amount of this immune impairment even enhances that caused by the stress of caregiving later in life."What happens in childhood really matters when it comes to your immune response in the latter part of your life," explained Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University. She explained her work at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in San Diego.

16 Aug 2010

Soligenix’s net loss for second-quarter 2010 decreases to $1,577,000

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today its financial results for the second quarter of 2010.

13 Aug 2010

Trubion Pharmaceuticals signs definitive merger agreement with Emergent BioSolutions

Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc., in which Emergent has agreed to acquire Trubion. Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Trubion common stock will be converted into the right to receive an upfront payment of $1.365 per share in cash and 0.1641 shares of Emergent BioSolutions common stock.

13 Aug 2010

Lamictal can cause aseptic meningitis: FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned that the drug Lamictal (lamotrigine), approved to treat seizures and bipolar disorder, can cause aseptic meningitis, an inflammation of the protective membranes (meninges) that cover the brain and spinal cord not caused by bacterial infection.The agency is working with the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, to update the prescribing information and patient medication guide to include this risk.

13 Aug 2010

Severe inflammatory response to initial UTI causes bladder damage: Research

The immune system may open the door to recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) by overdoing its response to an initial infection, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.Researchers showed in mice that severe inflammatory responses to an initial UTI cause bladder damage and allow infection to persist longer. After one to two weeks of infection, the bladder wall undergoes additional changes that leave mice more vulnerable to later infection. Suppressing the immune system during initial infection decreases these vulnerabilities, they report Aug. 12 in PLoS Pathogens.

13 Aug 2010

Novavax announces positive results from pre-clinical toxicology study of RSV vaccine candidate

Novavax, Inc. reported today that results from a pre-clinical toxicology study of its vaccine candidate to prevent respiratory syncytial virus, showed the vaccine to be safe and well-tolerated at all doses tested. Novavax's vaccine uses highly purified recombinant particles of RSV-F fusion protein normally found in the virus. There is currently no approved vaccine to prevent RSV infection.

13 Aug 2010

WHO releases H1N1 Emergency Committee roster

Five of the 15 experts advising the WHO on H1N1 (swine flu) had ties to the pharmaceutical industry, "including for flu vaccine research," according to the Emergency Committee members' list released by the agency Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports.

13 Aug 2010

Emergent BioSolutions enters agreement to acquire Trubion Pharmaceuticals

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for upfront consideration of $96.8 million of value and up to $38.7 million of success-based milestones, resulting in a total consideration of up to $135.5 million. The acquisition will diversify Emergent's product development pipeline with the addition of Trubion's two clinical-stage product candidates focused on the targeted disease areas of oncology and autoimmunity.

13 Aug 2010

Amorfix first-quarter fiscal 2011 net loss from operations increases to $1,724,745

Amorfix Life Sciences, a product development company focused on misfolded protein diseases, today announced its operational and financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2010.

12 Aug 2010

News outlets look at how H1N1 will inform WHO's future outbreak response

Following the WHO's decision on Tuesday to declare the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic over, several news outlets reviewed the emergence of the virus around the world, exploring how some of the lessons learned from H1N1 could assist the WHO's handling of future outbreaks.

12 Aug 2010

Emergency Committee Members report on post-pandemic period of H1N1

The world is no longer in phase 6 of influenza pandemic alert. We are now moving into the post-pandemic period. The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course.These are the views of members of the Emergency Committee, which was convened earlier today by teleconference.The Committee based its assessment on the global situation, as well as reports from several countries that are now experiencing influenza. I fully agree with the Committee's advice.

12 Aug 2010

Human Immune Phenotyping Centers to receive NIAID grants for research

A new nationwide research initiative has been launched to define changes in the human immune system, using human and not animal studies, in response to infection or to vaccination. Six U. S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers will receive a total of $100 million over five years to conduct this research.Funding for the centers is provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Support for the first year of this initiative will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

12 Aug 2010

Intellect Neurosciences receives patent for insulin sensitizer drugs

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced today that its Chairman & CEO, Dr. Daniel Chain, was granted a patent by the European Patent and Trademark Office related to the use of insulin sensitizers for the prevention and treatment of memory loss and dementia. Insulin sensitizer drugs include Rosiglitazone and Pioglitazone, which have been approved for the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus.

12 Aug 2010

TLV, Emergent BioSolutions form joint venture to develop broad spectrum pandemic flu vaccine

Temasek Life Science Ventures Pte Ltd and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced their agreement to form EPIC BIO Pte Ltd, a joint venture to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a multivalent, cross-protective human vaccine to protect against influenza caused by a broad range of circulating H5 influenza strains.

12 Aug 2010

Advaxis, Vibalogics to develop storage-stable formulation for live Listeria vaccines

Advaxis, Inc., the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) immunotherapy company and Vibalogics GmbH, a German biologics manufacturing company, have agreed to co-develop a room temperature stable, processing technology for live vaccines originally engineered for Advaxis.

12 Aug 2010

Chimpanzee adenoviruses can be used as vaccine vectors: Research

In recent years, scientists have studied the possibility of using engineered human adenoviruses as vaccines against diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. In this approach, adenoviruses, which commonly cause respiratory-tract infections, are rendered relatively harmless before they are used as vectors to deliver genes from pathogens, which in turn stimulate the body to generate a protective immune response.

12 Aug 2010

Needle-free natural vaccine against malaria: Research

A study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine proposes that preventative treatment with affordable and safe antibiotics in people living in areas with intense malaria transmission has the potential to act as a 'needle-free' natural vaccine against malaria and may likely provide an additional valuable tool for controlling and/or eliminating malaria in resource-poor settings.

12 Aug 2010