Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Phase III STARTMRK clinical study on ISENTRESS in comparison to efavirenz

ISENTRESS , an integrase inhibitor from Merck & Co., Inc., was studied in comparison to efavirenz in maintaining viral load suppression to undetectable levels (less than 50 copies/mL) and at improving CD4 cell counts in previously untreated (treatment-naïve) HIV-1-infected patients through 96 weeks in a Phase III study called STARTMRK.

14 Sep 2009

Influenza patients treated with Tamiflu has higher survival rates

Roche announced today that two new observational studies concluded that influenza patients treated with Tamiflu(R) (oseltamivir phosphate) had significantly higher survival rates than untreated patients.

14 Sep 2009

Clinical study results of DAS181 against H1N1 influenza presented

NexBio, Inc. announced today the presentation of two studies of DAS181 activity against H1N1 influenza and NAI-resistant influenza at the 2009 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) meeting on Sunday, September 13, 2009, in San Francisco, CA.

14 Sep 2009

Communicable and Chronic Disease and AIDS course on biological agents causing diseases

Indiana State University's exposure this week to the H1N1 virus has one of the school's environmental health sciences professors using the campus as her classroom.

14 Sep 2009

Master gene could lead to new ways of cancer treatments

The master gene that causes blood stem cells to turn into disease-fighting 'Natural Killer' (NK) immune cells has been identified by scientists, in a study published in Nature Immunology today. The discovery could one day help scientists boost the body's production of these frontline tumour-killing cells, creating new ways to treat cancer.

14 Sep 2009

TCAD therapy shows potency against seasonal and novel H1N1 influenza viruses

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that a multi-center in vitro study of its proprietary triple combination antiviral drug (TCAD) therapy showed substantially greater potency against seasonal and novel H1N1 influenza viruses than currently recommended single or double therapy and that the triple combination is active against drug-resistant flu strains.

14 Sep 2009

U.S., Australian researchers say single H1N1 vaccine dose protects adults against virus

The results of clinical trials have shown one dose of the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine is enough to offer adults protection against the virus, U.S. and Australian researchers said Thursday, the Associated Press reports (Neergaard, 9/11).

11 Sep 2009

Study identifies causes, rates of death among young people worldwide

"Road accidents, pregnancy and childbirth complications, suicide, violence, the AIDS virus and tuberculosis are the biggest killers of young people across the world," according to a paper published on Friday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports.

11 Sep 2009

Flu Clinic Locator makes it easy for people to locate the most convenient clinic to get their seasonal flu vaccine

The American Lung Association is making it easier for people to get their seasonal flu vaccine this year with the availability of its 2009-2010 Flu Clinic Locator. The largest online directory of public seasonal influenza vaccination clinics is now available at www.flucliniclocator.org.

11 Sep 2009

Bioneutral's broad spectrum antimicrobial eradicates the H1N1 swine flu virus

BioNeutral Group, Inc. (“BioNeutral”) (OTCBB:BONU), a specialty chemical technology based Life Science Company, announced today that independent lab test results conducted at Microbiotest Inc. of Sterling, Virginia, demonstrated that Ygiene® antimicrobial diluted 1 to 10 with water can totally eradicated the H1N1 Swine Flu virus in 59 seconds on an unclean, soiled surface.

11 Sep 2009

Elderberry extract prevents H1N1 infection in vitro

A recent research study has given new scientific evidence to the long-held empirical belief that elderberries possess antiviral activities. The research involved a specific, reproducible elderberry extract developed by HerbalScience Group LLC, and succeeded in identifying key chemical components of the extract that inhibited in vitro infection and were shown to bind directly to Human Influenza A (H1N1) virus particles. The binding blocked the ability of the viruses to enter host cells, and thereby effectively preventing H1N1 infection in vitro.

11 Sep 2009

USPTO allows Isis an additional patent for single-stranded RNAi technology

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY) announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has allowed an Isis patent application that further expands the scope of the "Crooke" patent estate. The newly allowed patent broadly covers methods of cleaving a target RNA via a double-stranded ribonuclease mechanism, including the RNAi mechanism, with chemically modified, single-stranded RNA-containing drugs.

11 Sep 2009

Quidel Corporation expects highest quarterly revenue due to brisk sales of flu tests

Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ: QDEL), a leading provider of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests, announced today that it currently anticipates its highest quarterly revenue and operating income in its history, driven by global shipments of its QuickVue® Influenza A+B tests in the third quarter of 2009.

11 Sep 2009

Proposal calls for Medicare coverage of HIV screening

A new government proposal calls for Medicare beneficiaries to receive coverage for Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection screening.

11 Sep 2009

U.S. businesses are unprepared to deal with flu pandemic

Conflicting guidance on the depth and breadth of the H1N1 virus - the upcoming revisit of swine flu - has combined with other factors to result in dangerously low preparedness plans within the private sector.

11 Sep 2009

NIH provides Inviragen second major grant to develop a dengue vaccine

Inviragen has received a $600,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to partially support its continued efforts to develop a safe and effective dengue vaccine. The two-year grant will fund a collaborative effort led by Inviragen and involving scientists at the University of Wisconsin and Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The supported work will include additional optimization of Inviragen’s vaccine to generate more potent immune responses.

10 Sep 2009

U.S. public health officials recommend early flu vaccination

With increased influenza activity anticipated this fall, U.S. public health officials and other leading medical experts today urged Americans to be vigilant and get immunized early for protection against seasonal influenza - a threat to Americans' health each and every year.

10 Sep 2009

St. Vincent develops the first-ever HIV educational widget

Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) today unveiled a novel Web-based technology to rapidly instruct health care providers throughout New York State about HIV diagnosis and prevention.

10 Sep 2009

Survey reveals that hand-washing behaviors are poor despite H1N1 swine flu

With the White House estimating that 30 to 50 percent of Americans will contract H1N1 flu this season, you’d think more people would be focused on prevention.

10 Sep 2009

EPO issues grant for a patent in Kreutzer-Limmer III patent series

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a notification of intent to grant for a patent in the Kreutzer-Limmer III patent series (EP Application No 02702247.4). This patent series stems from the pioneering RNAi research performed by scientists at Ribopharma AG, which was acquired by Alnylam in 2003.

10 Sep 2009