Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

New, improved drugs can boost body's natural flu killer system

A known difficulty in fighting influenza (flu) is the ability of the flu viruses to mutate and thus evade various medications that were previously found to be effective. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have shown recently that another, more promising, approach is to focus on improving drugs that boost the body's natural flu killer system.

24 May 2013

Findings highlight importance of IL-21 in the development of antiviral vaccines

Scientists at Emory Vaccine Center have shown that an immune regulatory molecule called IL-21 is needed for long-lasting antibody responses in mice against viral infections.

24 May 2013

Novel multiplex immunoassay approach to capture HIV antibodies

Detection of HIV antibodies is used to diagnose HIV infection and monitor trials of experimental HIV/AIDS vaccines. New, more sensitive detection systems being developed use microspheres to capture HIV antibodies and can measure even small amounts of multiple antibodies at one time.

24 May 2013

Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals starts Phase I study of SB 9200 for treatment of HCV infection

Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for the treatment of viral infections, today announced that it has initiated dosing in a Phase I study of SB 9200, its investigational, once daily, oral therapy for the treatment of HCV infection.

24 May 2013

AASLD members at forefront to raise awareness of hepatitis B and C

Viral hepatitis is an asymptomatic disease affecting more than 5.3 million Americans. More than 75 percent of those with hepatitis C are unaware they have the virus.

23 May 2013

Scientists make important step forward in the quest to develop universal influenza vaccine

A new approach for immunizing against influenza elicited a more potent immune response and broader protection than the currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines when tested in mice and ferrets.

23 May 2013

iBio announces production of vaccine candidate for new H7N9 influenza virus

iBio, Inc. today announced the production of a vaccine candidate for the newly emerged H7N9 influenza virus by an independent third party laboratory using the iBioLaunch platform.

22 May 2013

JPIDS releases consensus statement of Sentinel Project on Pediatric Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society today released its June issue, which includes a consensus statement of the global Sentinel Project on Pediatric Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.

22 May 2013

Experts urge baby boomers to get screened for HCV

If you're a baby boomer, you may not know that odds are high that you're carrying the hepatitis C virus, putting yourself at risk for illness that can range from minor to life threatening.

22 May 2013

Gilead Sciences' sofosbuvir MAA gets EMA validation

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that the company's Marketing Authorisation Application for sofosbuvir, a once-daily oral nucleotide analogue inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection, which was submitted to the European Medicines Agency on April 17, 2013, has been fully validated and is now under assessment.

22 May 2013

Poliovirus vaccine study shows encouraging results in glioblastoma patients

An attack on glioblastoma brain tumor cells that uses a modified poliovirus is showing encouraging results in an early study to establish the proper dose level, researchers at Duke Cancer Institute report.

22 May 2013

Groundbreaking germ-fighting vaccine research to be presented at National Biotechnology Conference

A novel vaccine study from South Dakota State University will headline the groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' National Biotechnology Conference.

21 May 2013

New computer model predicts when avian influenza strain becomes infectious

A new computer model could help scientists predict when a particular strain of avian influenza might become infectious from bird to human, according to a report to be published in the International Journal Data Mining and Bioinformatics.

21 May 2013

Understanding the role of dsRNA in antiviral host defense systems

Animals, insects, and plants use a variety of sensing mechanisms to detect invading pathogens such as viruses. One complex and effective antiviral defense system they share is based on recognition of double-stranded RNA, often produced when a virus invades a host cell.

20 May 2013

Alnylam reports pre-clinical data from ALN-AS1 program for treatment of AIP

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has presented key pre-clinical proof-of-concept data from its RNAi therapeutic program targeting aminolevulinate synthase-1 (ALAS-1) for the treatment of porphyria including acute intermittent porphyria.

18 May 2013

WHO: Single dose of vaccination sufficient to confer life-long immunity against yellow fever disease

The yellow fever 'booster' vaccination given ten years after the initial vaccination is not necessary, according to WHO.

17 May 2013

Scientists unravel complex role of PBs in maintaining cellular homeostasis

As scientists learn more about processing bodies, granules present within normal cells, they are unraveling the complex role PBs play in maintaining cellular homeostasis by regulating RNA metabolism and cell signaling.

17 May 2013

A*STAR, Cytos Biotechnology provide update on Phase 1 clinical trial of H1N1 influenza vaccine

Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research and Switzerland's Cytos Biotechnology AG today announced that the first healthy volunteer has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial with their H1N1 influenza vaccine candidate based on Cytos' proprietary bacteriophage Qbeta virus-like particle technology.

17 May 2013

LMU researchers reveal link between natural killer cells and hematopoiesis

Infections can trigger hematopoiesis at sites outside the bone marrow - in the liver, the spleen or the skin. Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich now show that a specific type of immune cell facilitates such "extra medullary" formation of blood cells.

16 May 2013

Avian-origin influenza A virus associated with severe lower respiratory tract diseases

A novel avian-origin reassortant influenza A (H7N9) virus emerged in China in February 2013, and is associated with severe lower respiratory tract diseases. To date, more than 100 human cases of infection, including at least 20 deaths, have been reported in China.

15 May 2013