Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Largest-ever immunization campaign under way in the Middle East

The largest-ever immunization response in the Middle East is under way this week, aiming to vaccinate more than 23 million children against polio in Syria and neighbouring countries over the coming weeks.

9 Dec 2013

Revised Clinical Practice Guidelines on management of HCV published by EASL

The European Association for the Study of the Liver today publishes their revised Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) on the management of hepatitis C virus infection. The EASL guidelines, which supersede the previous version published in 2011, are designed to help physicians and other healthcare providers optimise their management of patients with acute and chronic HCV.

9 Dec 2013

Janssen reports positive pivotal Phase 2 study data of siltuximab for Multicentric Castleman's Disease

Janssen Research & Development, LLC today announced positive results from a pivotal Phase 2 global registration study (MCD2001) suggesting siltuximab, an investigational compound, along with best supportive care, exhibited statistically significant efficacy and a tolerable safety profile compared with placebo and BSC in treating patients with the rare disorder Multicentric Castleman's Disease who are HIV-negative and human herpes virus 8-negative.

8 Dec 2013

ATS Labs offers testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against H7N9 virus

ATS Labs announced today that they are pleased to offer testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against avian influenza A (H7N9) virus. Avian influenza A (H7N9) virus, called H7N9 for short, has infected humans in China causing severe respiratory illness.

6 Dec 2013

New research finds that H7N9 still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans

Avian influenza virus H7N9, which killed several dozen people in China earlier this year, has not yet acquired the changes needed to infect humans easily, according to a new study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute. In contrast to some initial studies that had suggested that H7N9 poses an imminent risk of a global pandemic, the new research found, based on analyses of virus samples from the Chinese outbreak, that H7N9 is still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans.

6 Dec 2013

Longer reads: HIV secrets, millennials' mental health and sleeping pills without side effects

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

6 Dec 2013

Autumn-born children prone to asthma

Month of birth closely correlates with the prevalence of bronchial asthma, a major study of Taiwanese children has found.

5 Dec 2013

Genocea commences GEN-004 Phase 1 study to prevent pneumococcus infections

Genocea Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage company pioneering novel T cell vaccines, announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1 study of GEN-004, an investigational vaccine candidate for pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumoniae), a major cause of infectious disease-related death globally. GEN-004 is the first vaccine candidate designed to prevent infections caused by all strains of pneumococcus through a novel T cell-mediated mechanism of action.

5 Dec 2013

Measles still poses threat to domestic and global health security

Fifty years after the approval of an extremely effective vaccine against measles, one of the world's most contagious diseases, the virus still poses a threat to domestic and global health security.

5 Dec 2013

MassBiologics gets FDA orphan drug designation for MBL-HCV1 antibody

MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School has received an orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MBL-HCV1, a monoclonal antibody developed to prevent hepatitis C virus recurrence in patients receiving a liver transplant.

5 Dec 2013

1950s H2N2 avian influenza A virus still pose threat to human health

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have evidence that descendants of the H2N2 avian influenza A virus that killed millions worldwide in the 1950s still pose a threat to human health, particularly to those under 50. The research has been published in an advance online edition of the Journal of Virology.

4 Dec 2013

UCI-led study results have important implications for HIV vaccine development

Infectious disease researchers have identified a novel mechanism wherein HIV-1 may facilitate its own transmission by usurping the antibody response directed against itself. These results have important implications for HIV vaccine development and for understanding the earliest events in HIV transmission.

4 Dec 2013

Scientists identify enzyme that could lead to better treatment of Alzheimer's disease

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified an enzyme that can halt or possibly even reverse the build-up of toxic protein fragments known as plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease. The research appeared in a recent edition of the scientific journal Nature Communications.

3 Dec 2013

LabCorp's HCV GenoSure NS3/4 test now available for Q80K polymorphism screening

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings announced today the immediate availability of an enhanced version of its HCV GenoSure NS3/4, a drug resistance test that screens for the Q80K polymorphism. Q80K is a naturally occurring polymorphism that develops in certain strains of HCV, making the virus less susceptible to Janssen Therapeutics' OLYSIO (simeprevir), which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of certain adult patients diagnosed with genotype 1chronic hepatitis C.

3 Dec 2013

Researchers offer promise of strategy for curing HIV infection

Researchers have used radioimmunotherapy (RIT) to destroy remaining human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected cells in the blood samples of patients treated with antiretroviral therapy, offering the promise of a strategy for curing HIV infection. Results of the study were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

3 Dec 2013

Tel Aviv University researchers discover a protein that kills bacteria

In the arms race between bacteria and modern medicine, bacteria have gained an edge. In recent decades, bacterial resistance to antibiotics has developed faster than the production of new antibiotics, making bacterial infections increasingly difficult to treat. Scientists worry that a particularly virulent and deadly "superbug" could one day join the ranks of existing untreatable bacteria, causing a public health catastrophe comparable with the Black Death.

3 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Where's Obama's 'Mission Accomplished' banner?; health law critics overlooking those denied affordable care in the past

Great news: The White House says that Healthcare.gov and the 36 federally run insurance exchanges are finally good to go. The only thing missing from Sunday's relentlessly upbeat progress report was President Obama in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner. Sunday's eight-page report was intended to meet Mr. Obama's deadline for fixing the site after its October 1 debut was a calamity. But the more important goal was political -- namely, claiming enough progress to prevent Democrats on Capitol Hill from joining the GOP demand for delaying the individual mandate to buy insurance or even the entire program (12/1).

3 Dec 2013

Newly identified protein could prove promising new drug target for AIDS

Researchers have identified a protein that causes loss of function in immune cells combatting HIV. The scientists report in a paper appearing online Dec. 2 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that the protein, Sprouty-2, is a promising target for future HIV drug development, since disabling it could help restore the cells' ability to combat the virus that causes AIDS.

2 Dec 2013

Visterra secures exclusive patent license for promising dengue virus antibodies from MIT

Visterra, Inc., a developer of novel antibody therapeutics to prevent and treat major infectious diseases, today announced that it has secured an exclusive patent license from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to a family of early-stage monoclonal antibodies that target dengue virus. These antibodies were developed by MIT in the laboratory of Dr. Ram Sasisekharan, a founder of Visterra, using novel protein engineering approaches. Visterra will apply its proprietary network analysis technology to develop a human monoclonal antibody product candidate capable of broadly neutralizing all four dengue virus serotypes.

2 Dec 2013

Food safety tips for people with HIV/AIDS

December 1, 2013 is World AIDS Day and while the connection between HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) and food safety may not seem obvious, it's actually crucial.

30 Nov 2013

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Largest-ever immunization campaign under way in the Middle East

Revised Clinical Practice Guidelines on management of HCV published by EASL

Janssen reports positive pivotal Phase 2 study data of siltuximab for Multicentric Castleman's Disease

ATS Labs offers testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against H7N9 virus

New research finds that H7N9 still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans

Longer reads: HIV secrets, millennials' mental health and sleeping pills without side effects

Autumn-born children prone to asthma

Genocea commences GEN-004 Phase 1 study to prevent pneumococcus infections

Measles still poses threat to domestic and global health security

MassBiologics gets FDA orphan drug designation for MBL-HCV1 antibody

1950s H2N2 avian influenza A virus still pose threat to human health

UCI-led study results have important implications for HIV vaccine development

Scientists identify enzyme that could lead to better treatment of Alzheimer's disease

LabCorp's HCV GenoSure NS3/4 test now available for Q80K polymorphism screening

Researchers offer promise of strategy for curing HIV infection

Tel Aviv University researchers discover a protein that kills bacteria

Viewpoints: Where's Obama's 'Mission Accomplished' banner?; health law critics overlooking those denied affordable care in the past

Newly identified protein could prove promising new drug target for AIDS

Visterra secures exclusive patent license for promising dengue virus antibodies from MIT

Food safety tips for people with HIV/AIDS

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Shaping the future of lab automation through AI and robotics