Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

WHO advises earlier treatment for people with HIV

An estimated 5.2 million people were receiving life-saving HIV treatment at the end of 2009, according to the latest update from the WHO. WHO estimates that 1.2 million people started treatment in 2009, bringing the total number of people receiving treatment to 5.2 million, compared to 4 million at the end of 2008.

20 Jul 2010

BC-CfE study suggests HAART may prevent transmission, spread of HIV

The BC Centre of Excellence in HIV/AIDS published an important study today in the globally respected Lancet medical journal. The study strongly reinforces the view that the benefits of highly active antiretroviral therapy extend beyond treatment of the virus to significantly preventing the transmission and spread of HIV.

20 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: Treating HIV-positive patients with ARVs drove down number of new HIV infections, study finds

"Treating HIV patients with cocktails of AIDS drugs helps to stop them spreading the infection further and more than halved the number of new HIV diagnoses in a study in Canada, scientists said on Sunday," Reuters reports.

20 Jul 2010

International organizations mutually agree to eradicate pediatric HIV/AIDS by 2015

A global alliance of international organizations, including the heads of UNICEF, UNAIDS and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as other NGOs including the Pan African Treatment Access Movement, Health GAP, Ugandan Pediatric Association and the Global AIDS Alliance today agreed to take concerted action to eliminate pediatric HIV/AIDS over the next five years, preventing nearly 400,000 children annually from beginning their lives infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

20 Jul 2010

Infants in African countries receive minimum help to reduce risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission: Study

Only about half of infants born to HIV-infected mothers in some African countries receive a minimum preventive dose of the drug nevirapine to help reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

20 Jul 2010

Researchers discover new gene regulation, DNA behavior of breast cancer cells

Cancer researchers have discovered a previously unknown type of gene regulation and DNA behavior in breast cancer cells that may lead to better insight about environmental exposure to estrogen-like compounds. A new study, published in the journal Genome Research by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James), provides the first evidence that cells can regulate many genes at once by looping their DNA, contributing to cancer when it goes awry. In this study, the gene regulation was discovered in breast cancer cells as a response to the hormone estrogen and resulted in the silencing of 14 genes at one time.

20 Jul 2010

International AIDS conference focuses on HIV prevention, U.S. poverty-infection link

Speeches and studies at the international HIV/AIDS conference, now underway in Vienna, were covered by a variety of news outlets.

20 Jul 2010

Oncolytics Biotech receives Canadian approval for combination REOLYSIN Phase 3 trial in head, neck cancer

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. today announced that it has received a No Objection Letter from Health Canada to conduct its Phase 3 trial examining REOLYSIN in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with platinum-refractory head and neck cancers.

19 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 19, 2010

Today's headlines include the latest news regarding the politics of implementing health reform as well as developments from the international AIDS conference now underway in Vienna.

19 Jul 2010

Researchers develop new method for producing image of individual DNA molecules' genetic make-up

A completely new method for producing an image of individual DNA molecules' genetic make-up has been developed by researchers in Sweden and Denmark. The results are published in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).

19 Jul 2010

Phase II data on Genetic Immunity's DermaVir vaccine to be presented at XVIII International AIDS Conference

Genetic Immunity, a US/Hungarian biopharmaceutical company developing nanomedicine-based immunotherapies for HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases, is releasing Phase II data on the Company's novel DermaVir therapeutic vaccine for HIV/AIDS during the XVIII International AIDS Conference this week in Vienna, Austria. DermaVir, the first dendritic cell-targeting topical HIV vaccine candidate, employs nanotechnology to induce multi-faceted and long-lived immune responses capable of eliminating HIV infected cells.

19 Jul 2010

ViroStatics to present VS411 Phase II dose-ranging trial data at International AIDS Conference in Vienna

ViroStatics, a US/Italian biopharmaceutical company developing innovative immunotherapies for HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases, is releasing Phase II data from a randomized, dose-ranging trial of VS411, the Company's novel combination product for treating HIV/AIDS, during the XVII International AIDS Conference this week in Vienna, Austria.

19 Jul 2010

FIT Biotech to present results of FIT-06 Phase II clinical trial at XVIII International AIDS 2010 Conference

FIT Biotech, a privately held biotechnology company developing novel, proprietary immunotherapies for HIV/AIDS and other viral diseases, announced results today from a Phase II clinical trial. The company's immunomodulator FIT-06 showed unprecedented long-term reductions in viral load (approximately 0.5 log) and statistically significant CD4 cell count increases in HIV-infected, previously untreated patients. The effect lasted longer than two years in the absence of any anti-retroviral therapy.

19 Jul 2010

Study evaluates immunization benefits of dissolving microneedles

A new vaccine-delivery patch based on hundreds of microscopic needles that dissolve into the skin could allow persons without medical training to painlessly administer vaccines - while providing improved immunization against diseases such as influenza.

19 Jul 2010

BioRadar develops TransFMDV for Foot and Mouth Disease

BioRadar UK Ltd. predicted one year ago the current severe Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks after recording an increase of the Replikin Count (ref. 1) of the FMD Virus (FMDV) to its highest level in 52 years. Based on these findings, a new synthetic Replikins Trans-Strain FMD Vaccine, called TransFMDV(TM), has been developed and is now available. The announcement was made at the recent Biorbis Conference on Vaccine Production and Manufacturing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conference was attended by major pharmaceutical company executives to examine how vaccine production could be accelerated in view of the problem last year of responding "too little, too late" to the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

17 Jul 2010

IAS announces winners of four scientific awards to be presented at AIDS 2010

The International AIDS Society (IAS) announced today the ten winners of four prestigious scientific awards, to be presented at plenary sessions during the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010). Presented by the IAS and partners, these awards recognize scientists involved in innovative HIV and AIDS research throughout the world. "The quality of work represented by the 2010 awardees is remarkable," said IAS President Julio Montaner. "The IAS hopes to draw the world's attention to these individuals and to their significant scientific accomplishments, as well as to the continued need for innovation in all of the major areas of HIV and AIDS research, represented by the six conference programme tracks."

17 Jul 2010

FDA can promote personalized medicine by identying gaps in laboratory operations: ACLA

The Food and Drug Administration can promote progress toward personalized medicine by approaching the oversight of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) in a focused, flexible, and balanced way according to the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA). ACLA, which represents the nation's leading clinical laboratories, says that the factors supporting this approach include the growing role that such tests play in clinical decision making, especially in the area of new advanced diagnostics that derive from the mapping of the human genome and help fulfill the promise of personalized medicine.

17 Jul 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

As part of a series in advance of AIDS 2010, the "Science Speaks" blog features an interview with U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby "about his expectations for the conference, what was behind the Uganda problem with shortages of AIDS medicine, and whether The New York Times was right when it reported in May that the Ugandan drug shortfall was 'the first example … of how the war on AIDS is falling apart.'"

16 Jul 2010

Studying retrovirus assembly can help new drug development for infection control

How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces and assembles new viruses is different than previously thought, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. Understanding the steps a virus takes for assembly could allow development of a way to prevent the spread of retroviral diseases. The team studied a chicken virus called Rous sarcoma virus that causes cancer in chickens and is similar to HIV.

16 Jul 2010

Hemispherx publishes report of Japanese government funded program to develop nasally delivered H5N1 vaccine

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. announced that it was publicizing the full technical (unedited) report in Japanese, prepared by Hideki Hasegawa, M.D. Ph.D., Director, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Disease (NIID, formerly Japan's National Institute of Health) and the certified English translation.

16 Jul 2010

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

WHO advises earlier treatment for people with HIV

BC-CfE study suggests HAART may prevent transmission, spread of HIV

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: Treating HIV-positive patients with ARVs drove down number of new HIV infections, study finds

International organizations mutually agree to eradicate pediatric HIV/AIDS by 2015

Infants in African countries receive minimum help to reduce risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission: Study

Researchers discover new gene regulation, DNA behavior of breast cancer cells

International AIDS conference focuses on HIV prevention, U.S. poverty-infection link

Oncolytics Biotech receives Canadian approval for combination REOLYSIN Phase 3 trial in head, neck cancer

First Edition: July 19, 2010

Researchers develop new method for producing image of individual DNA molecules' genetic make-up

Phase II data on Genetic Immunity's DermaVir vaccine to be presented at XVIII International AIDS Conference

ViroStatics to present VS411 Phase II dose-ranging trial data at International AIDS Conference in Vienna

FIT Biotech to present results of FIT-06 Phase II clinical trial at XVIII International AIDS 2010 Conference

Study evaluates immunization benefits of dissolving microneedles

BioRadar develops TransFMDV for Foot and Mouth Disease

IAS announces winners of four scientific awards to be presented at AIDS 2010

FDA can promote personalized medicine by identying gaps in laboratory operations: ACLA

Recent releases in Global Health

Studying retrovirus assembly can help new drug development for infection control

Hemispherx publishes report of Japanese government funded program to develop nasally delivered H5N1 vaccine

Microplate-based assays in virology research eBook eBook

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging