Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Gene therapy for bleeding disorder Hemophilia B

In a landmark study, researchers used gene therapy to successfully treat six patients with severe hemophilia, a blood-clotting disorder. Despite the early nature of the study, it is promising. A single infusion using the new treatment worked in some patients for more than a year, boosting their clotting ability significantly.

12 Dec 2011

Syndax announces data from entinostat phase 2 study on HL

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that data from ENGAGE 501, a multicenter, phase 2 study, demonstrated entinostat, a novel, oral small molecule inhibitor of class I histone deacetylases, showed activity as a single agent in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma.

12 Dec 2011

Gene therapy can reduce painful bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia B

Symptoms improved significantly in adults with the bleeding disorder hemophilia B following a single treatment with gene therapy developed by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and demonstrated to be safe in a clinical trial conducted at the University College London (UCL) in the U.K.

12 Dec 2011

Alios BioPharma, Vertex initiate ALS-2200 and ALS-2158 clinical study in HCV

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Alios BioPharma, Inc. today announced the initiation of two clinical studies for the nucleotide analogues ALS-2200 and ALS-2158, which are inhibitors of the hepatitis C NS5B polymerase.

12 Dec 2011

Experimental sublingual vaccine shows promise against influenza infection

Scientists from the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) have discovered that an antigen common to most influenza viruses, and commonly referred to as matrix protein 2 (M2), when administered under the tongue could protect mice against experimental infection caused by various influenza viruses, including the highly pathogenic avian H5 virus and the pandemic H1 ("swine flu") virus.

9 Dec 2011

Enrollment complete in Boehringer Ingelheim's BI 201335 Phase III trial for HCV

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that the final patient has been randomised to treatment in the large-scale Phase III clinical trial programme for BI 201335, its investigational, oral protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus.

9 Dec 2011

New gene editing technique can heal sickle cell patients with their own cells

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a way to use patients' own cells to potentially cure sickle cell disease and many other disorders caused by mutations in a gene that helps produce blood hemoglobin.

8 Dec 2011

Inviragen presents DENVax Phase 1 trial results on dengue at ASTMH annual meeting

Inviragen, Inc. presented results of the Phase 1 clinical trial of DENVax conducted in Colombia at the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) meeting today.

8 Dec 2011

PrEP shows promise against HIV infection

A new weapon has emerged to prevent HIV infection. Called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, it is a strategy of providing medications to at-risk people before they are exposed to the virus. Having shown great promise in recent phase 3 clinical trials, PrEP may soon be rolled out for public use.

8 Dec 2011

Influenza shot boosts immune response in pregnant women, protects neonatal babies

The researchers studied the immune response of 107 pregnant women after they were injected with a single dose of non-adjuvant H1N1 vaccine. They concluded that the influenza shot boosted the immune response in pregnant women and at the same time protected neuronatal babies via the antibodies that transferred through the placenta.

8 Dec 2011

CSL partners with NIH to study Cytomegalovirus, a common cause of abnormalities in newborns

CSL Limited announced today that it is partnering with the world’s largest health research agency, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study a potential new treatment for the prevention of congenital CMV infection, one of the most common known causes of congenital (i.e., present at birth) abnormalities in the developed world.

7 Dec 2011

Vaccine against Ebola developed

Ebola was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ebola fever kills more than 90% of the people it infects. Ebola is among the most lethal diseases known to humans, according to the World Health Organization.

7 Dec 2011

Aethlon receives approval to begin Hemopurifier study at Sarcoma Oncology Center

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that a cancer research study to test the ex vivo effectiveness of the Aethlon Hemopurifier to capture tumor-secreted exosomes from the blood of advanced-stage cancer patients has received institutional review board approval to begin studies at the Sarcoma Oncology Center, based in Santa Monica, California.

7 Dec 2011

Biologists discover how fruit flies can provide solutions to human pain, control insect-borne diseases

Studies of a protein that fruit flies use to sense heat and chemicals may someday provide solutions to human pain and the control of disease-spreading mosquitoes.

7 Dec 2011

Study reveals previously unseen details of SBP8a anthrax bacteriophage

A new study has shown previously unseen details of an anthrax bacteriophage - a virus that infects anthrax bacteria - revealing for the first time how it infects its host, and providing an initial blueprint for how the phage might someday be modified into a tool for the detection and destruction of anthrax and other potential bioterror agents.

6 Dec 2011

Social determinants contribute to incidence of H1N1 virus in U.S. Hispanics during 2009 pandemic

Social determinants, including the lack of paid sick leave, contributed to higher risk of exposure to the influenza A (H1N1) virus among Hispanics in the U.S. during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study led by Sandra Crouse Quinn, professor of family science and senior associate director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

6 Dec 2011

Measles raises its head again in Europe after years of suppression: Report

According to a new report last Thursday, measles incidence is on the rise in Europe following decades of decline. Up to October European health officials reported more than 26,000 measles cases this year and nine deaths.

5 Dec 2011

NanoViricides submits pre-IND Meeting Request for FluCide to FDA

NanoViricides, Inc. announced today that it has submitted a pre-IND Meeting Request to the US FDA. The Company has requested an initial meeting with the US FDA to review the Company's proposed strategy and plan for conducting safety/toxicology studies and human clinical trials required for approval of its anti-influenza clinical drug candidate, FluCide™ (i.e. NV-INF-1).

5 Dec 2011

Plasma can inactivate and prevent replication of adenoviruses

Life-threatening viruses such as HIV, SARS, hepatitis and influenza, could soon be combatted in an unusual manner as researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of plasma for inactivating and preventing the replication of adenoviruses.

5 Dec 2011

Obama pledges more for fighting HIV/AIDS

On the occasion of World AIDS day on 1st December, President Barack Obama vowed to boost U.S. efforts to fight AIDS with a new target of providing treatment to 6 million people worldwide by 2013, up from an earlier goal of 4 million.

4 Dec 2011