Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

NIH awards UH with $361,000 grant for chikungunya vaccine study

It is spread to humans by mosquito bites, causing arthritic symptoms so severe that some victims can't even walk. While rarely fatal, the effects of the chikungunya virus can last up to a year.

28 Apr 2011

FDA Advisory Committee recommends approval of Merck's VICTRELIS for chronic HCV genotype 1 infection

Merck announced today that the Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted unanimously that the available data support approval of Merck's investigational medicine VICTRELIS™ (boceprevir) for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection in combination with current standard therapy.

28 Apr 2011

Rwanda launches Africa's first nationwide cervical cancer vaccination, detection program

Rwandan First Lady Jeannette Kagame on Tuesday, in collaboration with two companies, launched a national cervical cancer vaccination and screening program, the first of its kind in Africa, the New Times reports.

27 Apr 2011

EPO grants patent to Microbix' VIRUSMAX vaccine enhancement technology

Microbix Biosystems Inc., a biotechnology company commercializing novel technologies to enhance vaccine production yields, and other innovative biologics, announced today that the European Patent Office recently granted patent protection for the company's proprietary VIRUSMAX technology, which is designed to increase influenza vaccine yields and has demonstrated an average yield increase of at least two-fold over current vaccine production methods.

27 Apr 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates enrollment in BI 201335 Phase 3 clinical trial for chronic HCV

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that enrollment has commenced at North American sites in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial program for BI 201335, the Company's investigational, oral protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

27 Apr 2011

Researchers develop protein-based inhibitor that can treat HPV

Human papillomavirus causes cervical cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death for women, and is a common cause of anogenital and some head and neck cancers.

27 Apr 2011

FDA supports new Hepatitis C drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex pharmaceuticals jumped 10 percent in value on the Nasdaq after U.S. regulators FDA said the company’s experimental hepatitis C drug cures more patients than current therapies.

26 Apr 2011

New study sheds light on evolution of 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus in Japan

Analysis of mutations of the 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus by researchers at the RIKEN Omics Science Center (OSC) has revealed major genetic differences between the virus in its early phase of infection in Japan and in its peak phase. While yielding valuable clues on the genetic origins of drug resistance, the findings also pave the way toward the development of new diagnostic kits for detecting and preventing the spread of global pandemic diseases.

26 Apr 2011

FDA grants Cepheid marketing clearance for Xpert Flu diagnostic test

Cepheid today announced it has received clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to market Xpert® Flu. The diagnostic test, which runs on Cepheid's GeneXpert® System, simultaneously detects and differentiates Influenza A, Influenza B, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in about one hour.

26 Apr 2011

African-American couples with HIV can benefit from health promotion interventions

Interventions to promote healthy behaviors, including eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing physical activity, and participating in cancer screenings, as well as prevention of HIV/sexually transmitted diseases, appear beneficial for African-American couples who are at high risk for chronic diseases, especially if one of the individuals is living with HIV.

26 Apr 2011

Study: More couple-based HIV counseling needed in South Africa

A new study of sexual risk behaviors within long-term couples in South Africa finds that HIV-positive people take almost as much risk in their sexual behavior when they know their partner is HIV-negative or don't know their status, as when they know their partner is already infected.

26 Apr 2011

Study: HIV infection linked to increased risk of heart failure

Patients with HIV infection without a prior history of coronary heart disease may be at a higher risk of developing heart failure, according to a report in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Apr 2011

Study questions suitability of anti-retroviral drugs for the young

According to a new major study one in eight children born with HIV becomes resistant to the three main classes of drugs used to suppress the virus within five years of starting treatment. This is the first major study that looks at drug resistance in 1,000 European children born with HIV. It raises questions about the suitability of anti-retroviral drugs for the young.

25 Apr 2011

Avian flu remains endemic in six countries, could take at least a decade to eradicate, FAO says

It will take at least 10 years to eradicate the H5N1 virus from poultry in the six countries where it is endemic, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report released on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.

25 Apr 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

When health ministers gather for the World Health Assembly in May they will try to come up with a solution to "a dilemma that has dogged decision-makers for decades - whether and when to destroy the last remaining stocks of the smallpox virus," David Heymann and Emma Ross, both of the Global Health Security Centre at Chatham House, write in an article in The World Today.

25 Apr 2011

Idera announces delay in commencement of IMO-2125 Phase 2 clinical trial in treatment-naive HCV patients

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has chosen to delay initiating its planned Phase 2 clinical trial of IMO-2125 based on preliminary data from a 26-week nonclinical toxicology study of IMO-2125 in rodents. The Phase 2 clinical trial involves the evaluation of IMO-2125 plus ribavirin in treatment-naïve, genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients.

22 Apr 2011

Research solves challenging problem of industry-scale production of large RNA molecules

Nanotechnology researchers have known for years that RNA, the cousin of DNA, is a promising tool for nanotherapy, in which therapeutic agents can be delivered inside the body via nanoparticles. But the difficulties of producing long-lasting, therapeutic RNA that remains stable and non-toxic while entering targeted cells have posed challenges for their progress.

22 Apr 2011

New study: Children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence, adulthood

Once facing an almost certain death sentence, most children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence and adulthood, according to a newly published study co-authored by Tulane infectious diseases expert Dr. Russell Van Dyke. The study was published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

22 Apr 2011

Researchers discover new compound to fight against shingles

Researchers at the University of Georgia and Yale University have discovered a compound with the potential to be more effective than existing agents in treating the very painful blisters known as shingles-a condition that affects up to 30 percent of Americans, mostly elderly, and for which no specific treatment exists.

22 Apr 2011

GM-SCF therapy can reduce flu symptoms and prevent death

New research on mice has shown that pulmonary administration of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor significantly reduces flu symptoms and prevents death after a lethal dose influenza virus.

22 Apr 2011

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

NIH awards UH with $361,000 grant for chikungunya vaccine study

FDA Advisory Committee recommends approval of Merck's VICTRELIS for chronic HCV genotype 1 infection

Rwanda launches Africa's first nationwide cervical cancer vaccination, detection program

EPO grants patent to Microbix' VIRUSMAX vaccine enhancement technology

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates enrollment in BI 201335 Phase 3 clinical trial for chronic HCV

Researchers develop protein-based inhibitor that can treat HPV

FDA supports new Hepatitis C drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals

New study sheds light on evolution of 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus in Japan

FDA grants Cepheid marketing clearance for Xpert Flu diagnostic test

African-American couples with HIV can benefit from health promotion interventions

Study: More couple-based HIV counseling needed in South Africa

Study: HIV infection linked to increased risk of heart failure

Study questions suitability of anti-retroviral drugs for the young

Avian flu remains endemic in six countries, could take at least a decade to eradicate, FAO says

Recent releases in Global Health

Idera announces delay in commencement of IMO-2125 Phase 2 clinical trial in treatment-naive HCV patients

Research solves challenging problem of industry-scale production of large RNA molecules

New study: Children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence, adulthood

Researchers discover new compound to fight against shingles

GM-SCF therapy can reduce flu symptoms and prevent death

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