Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Researchers discover molecular signature to predict TB infection

Dallas scientists recently discovered a molecular signature in the blood of patients with tuberculosis (TB) that may explain why some people develop an active TB infection, while others exposed to the bacteria which causes the dangerous respiratory virus do not.

24 Sep 2010

AJMS journal provides research update on new infectious pathogens

Newly recognized disease-causing viruses, bacteria, and other infections are continually emerging around the world, posing difficult challenges for patient diagnosis and treatment and for public health responses. A special symposium section of the September issue of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS), official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, provides a research update on important new infectious pathogens.

24 Sep 2010

FDA grants clearance for HPβCD treatment for Niemann Pick Type C disease

Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted clearance of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to introduce Trappsol Cyclo (Hydroxypropyl Beta Cyclodextrin or HPβCD) into the brains of six year old identical twin girls dying of a rare brain-destroying cholesterol disease called Niemann Pick Type C (NPC).

24 Sep 2010

Swine flu making a come back

A second elderly man succumbed to the swine flu virus as the Northern Territory experiences an upsurge in infection rates from the virus. Both men had serious health problems that raised their risk of dying with the disease.

24 Sep 2010

Raltegravir could be valid target against all Herpesviridae

Scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) headed by the coordinator of the Structural and Computational Biology Programme, Miquel Coll, have published a new study that demonstrates that raltegravir, the drug approved in 2007 for the treatment of AIDS that is sold by Merck under the name Isentress, cancels the function of an essential protein for the replication of one kind of herpes virus.

23 Sep 2010

UB researchers to investigate influence of environmental factors on MS progression

A $634,000 grant from the Department of Defense is allowing researchers at the University at Buffalo to investigate a trio of environmental factors and their influence on the progression of multiple sclerosis.

23 Sep 2010

FDA approves Roche's COBAS AmpliPrep / COBAS TaqMan HBV Test v2.0

Roche Molecular Diagnostics announced today that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the COBAS® AmpliPrep / COBAS® TaqMan® HBV Test v2.0 for use in the United States. The new Roche test provides a fully automated solution for the quantitative detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in human plasma or serum for patients on HBV antiviral therapy.

23 Sep 2010

G-CSF compound may activate virus, increases risk of infection: Research

Research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute may spur debate about the risks associated with administering a specific compound in some forms of bone-marrow transplantation. The research is published in the current edition of Cell Host and Microbe.

22 Sep 2010

Santaris Pharma paves way to conduct clinical trial of miravirsen in patients with HVC

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, today announced that it has advanced miravirsen (SPC3649), the first microRNA-targeted drug to enter clinical trials, into Phase 2 studies to assess the safety and tolerability of the drug in treatment-naive patients infected with the Hepatitis C virus.

22 Sep 2010

Progenics completes methylnaltrexone bromide subcutaneous injection phase 3 study in patients with OIC

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the completion of the treatment phase of a 1,034-patient, one-year, open-label, international, phase 3 safety study of methylnaltrexone bromide subcutaneous injection in chronic, non-malignant pain patients with opioid-induced constipation (OIC).

22 Sep 2010

Researchers receive $634,000 grant to study environmental factors, MS progression

22 Sep 2010

MIDAS researchers continue to model how H1N1 may spread

As the United States prepares for the upcoming flu season, a group of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health continues to model how H1N1 may spread.

22 Sep 2010

HIV infection mystery revealed

In a new discovery, Melbourne researchers have found a mechanism by which the HIV virus can affect people. According to co-head of the Burnet Institute's Centre for Virology, Sharon Lewin, scientists have found out how HIV entered a group of cells in which the virus tends to persist in spite of antiviral treatment that reduces the virus to undetectable levels.

22 Sep 2010

Aethlon Medical reestablishes efforts to advance Aethlon Hemopurifier

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, disclosed today that it has reestablished efforts to advance the Aethlon Hemopurifier within U.S. Government programs that support the development and purchase of treatment countermeasures against bioterror threats.

21 Sep 2010

Annals of Internal Medicine publishes GRACE study data on HIV therapy

Data from the GRACE study will be published in the September 21st issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. GRACE is the largest-ever study of treatment experienced adult women with HIV-1 to examine gender differences in response to HIV therapy. Sponsored by Tibotec Therapeutics Clinical Affairs, a division of Centocor Ortho Biotech Services, LLC, the GRACE study enrolled 67 percent women, demonstrating that it is possible to recruit large numbers of women into U.S.-based HIV treatment studies.

21 Sep 2010

Childhood obesity linked to common cold virus

A new study has shown that obese children are more prone to carrying a common cold virus than slimmer children. The virus in question is adenovirus 36 and if the link is true then someday new obesity treatments might be tailored to attack the virus to treat or prevent childhood obesity. Childhood obesity affects 17% of American children and adolescents. The report appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

21 Sep 2010

Flu shots, heart attacks and flu prevention guidelines

According to a new British study yearly flu shots may protect against heart attacks, and the earlier in the season a shot is given the greater the protection. Niroshan Siriwardena, a professor of primary and pre-hospital health care at the University of Lincoln said, “The risk of getting a heart attack was reduced by 19 percent for those who had a vaccination in the past year.”

21 Sep 2010

AstraZeneca urges to increase funds for FDA fiscal year 2012 budget

AstraZeneca urged the Obama Administration to increase funding for the Food and Drug Administration's fiscal year 2012 budget by 20 percent to help the agency effectively manage a growing list of complex public health responsibilities.

21 Sep 2010

Abbott to commercialize Celera's CE-marked KIF6 genotyping assay outside U.S.

Celera Corporation and Abbott today announced that they have signed an exclusive distribution agreement to market Celera's CE-marked KIF6 diagnostic test for use on Abbott's CE-marked m2000™ instrument system. The KIF6 genotyping assay detects a genetic marker that may be used in conjunction with clinical evaluation and patient assessment for the identification of individuals at risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), and in patients for whom statin treatment is being considered.

20 Sep 2010

H1N1 influenza increases neurological complications in children: Study

A recent study by researchers at the University of Utah determined that the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) caused a higher rate of neurological complications in children than the seasonal flu. The most common complications observed were seizures and encephalopathy.

20 Sep 2010