Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

HIV prevention, treatment highlighted at Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

Today was the last day of the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, a key HIV/AIDS research meeting being held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston from February 27 through March 2. Highlighted below are selected presentations from March 2nd on research supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, both components of the National Institutes of Health.

5 Mar 2011

Grifols receives FDA approval for Alphanate to treat vCJD

Grifols, a global healthcare company and biopharmaceutical manufacturer based in Barcelona, Spain today announced that it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for revised labeling for Alphanate Antihemophilic Factor/von Willebrand Factor Complex indicating that certain manufacturing steps have been shown to reduce the infectivity of a experimental TSE agent that is a model for variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease.

5 Mar 2011

Brain enzyme can restore even old, fading memories, say researchers

Even long after it is formed, a memory in rats can be enhanced or erased by increasing or decreasing the activity of a brain enzyme, say researchers supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health.

4 Mar 2011

Sangamo's preclinical ZFN-gene modification studies for HIV/AIDS treatment presented at CROI

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced that data from its programs to develop ZFN-based therapeutic approaches for the treatment of HIV/AIDS were discussed in four oral presentations at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, held in Boston from February 27 to March 2, 2011.

4 Mar 2011

Executioner enzyme may short circuit second form of cell death

An enzyme viewed as an executioner, because it can push cells to commit suicide, may actually short circuit a second form of cell death, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered.

4 Mar 2011

ATS releases new report detailing emerging trends in HIV-linked pulmonary disease management

The American Thoracic Society has released a new report detailing recent global changes in the management of human immunodeficiency virus-associated pulmonary disease.

4 Mar 2011

Organ transplant deaths investigated

Three women died within one week of each other after they received diseased organs in transplant procedures at the Austin and Royal Melbourne hospitals according to an ongoing inquest.

3 Mar 2011

'Implementation science' approach to play a critical role in next phase of PEPFAR program

An "implementation science" approach will play a critical role in the next phase of The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, according to an editorial in JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

3 Mar 2011

Roche, OraSure receive FDA 510(k) clearance for Oral Fluid Drug Testing System

OraSure Technologies, Inc. and Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the Companies 510(k) clearance on four homogeneous fully automated oral fluid drugs of abuse assays developed to be used exclusively as part of OraSure's Intercept Oral Fluid Drug Testing System.

3 Mar 2011

Study reveals expansion of NK cells after acute infection

The natural killer cells of our immune defense are activated for an extended period after the acute infection, which challenges the prevailing view that the elevation and activation of cells quickly pass.

3 Mar 2011

Vertex announces positive interim results from telaprevir Phase 2 study in patients with HCV, HIV

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today interim results from an ongoing, two-part, Phase 2 study evaluating telaprevir in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin compared to pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone in people who are infected with both genotype 1 hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HCV-HIV co-infection.

3 Mar 2011

Genetic variants determine severity of HCV-related graft disease and antiviral treatment response

3 Mar 2011

Scientists provide new insight into mechanisms controlling programmed cell death pathways

Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators provides fresh insight into mechanisms controlling programmed cell death pathways and offers new targets in the fight against cancer and virus-infected cells

3 Mar 2011

Genetic variants determine severity of HCV-related graft disease and antiviral treatment response

German researchers have found a significant association of IL28B genotypes to interferon-based antiviral treatment outcome, and to graft inflammation caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study determined that the presence of G-allele serves as a marker for severe HCV-induced graft inflammation, as well as a predictor for unsuccessful treatment. Study findings—the largest to report on the role IL28B variants in a transplant cohort with recurrent HCV—are published in the March issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

2 Mar 2011

Scientists at retrovirus conference present findings on microbicide gel, Truvada, male circumcision, ART care by nurses

At the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston on Monday, researchers "suggested the potential" of a gel containing the antiretroviral drug tenofovir to reduce the risk of anal HIV transmission, TIME's "Healthland" blog reports.

2 Mar 2011

New insight into HIV/AIDS

A paper published in the March 2011 print edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation offers new insight into what prompts immunity to AIDS in sooty mangabeys, a natural host African monkey species.

2 Mar 2011

Vaccine-induced cellular immune responses against HIV-1 infection exert selective pressure on the virus

An AIDS vaccine tested in people, but found to be ineffective, influenced the genetic makeup of the virus that slipped past. The findings suggest new ideas for developing HIV vaccines.

2 Mar 2011

HIV women take photos to document their lives

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but for women living with human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS, a picture can help them deal with the challenges of living with the virus.

1 Mar 2011

ADC announces RNAscope technology clinical study results for HPV-associated head and neck cancers

Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. today announced the results of its clinical study utilizing RNAscope technology to detect human papillomavirus E6/E7 mRNA in routine clinical specimens of head and neck cancer.

From Advanced Cell Diagnostics 1 Mar 2011

Anti-AIDS gel shows promise

Dr. Ian McGowan, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh who is leading a second-phase study of the gel said, “These are early results, but [they] help set the stage for current and future trials of rectal microbicides and the development of a rectal-specific formulation of tenofovir gel.” Researchers have focused on the use of microbicides such as tenofovir, as a preventive treatment to be used in vaginal sex. However, scientists think unprotected anal sex is much more risky.

1 Mar 2011

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

HIV prevention, treatment highlighted at Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections

Grifols receives FDA approval for Alphanate to treat vCJD

Brain enzyme can restore even old, fading memories, say researchers

Sangamo's preclinical ZFN-gene modification studies for HIV/AIDS treatment presented at CROI

Executioner enzyme may short circuit second form of cell death

ATS releases new report detailing emerging trends in HIV-linked pulmonary disease management

Organ transplant deaths investigated

'Implementation science' approach to play a critical role in next phase of PEPFAR program

Roche, OraSure receive FDA 510(k) clearance for Oral Fluid Drug Testing System

Study reveals expansion of NK cells after acute infection

Vertex announces positive interim results from telaprevir Phase 2 study in patients with HCV, HIV

Genetic variants determine severity of HCV-related graft disease and antiviral treatment response

Scientists provide new insight into mechanisms controlling programmed cell death pathways

Genetic variants determine severity of HCV-related graft disease and antiviral treatment response

Scientists at retrovirus conference present findings on microbicide gel, Truvada, male circumcision, ART care by nurses

New insight into HIV/AIDS

Vaccine-induced cellular immune responses against HIV-1 infection exert selective pressure on the virus

HIV women take photos to document their lives

ADC announces RNAscope technology clinical study results for HPV-associated head and neck cancers

Anti-AIDS gel shows promise

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