Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

WHO, the Republic of Korea announce joint mission to combat MERS-CoV

In light of the recent outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), WHO and the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare will conduct a joint mission in the Republic of Korea. The mission comes after close consultation between WHO and the Government.

7 Jun 2015

AWMSG recommends Daklinza (daclatasvir) for treatment of adult patients with chronic HCV infection

The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group has recommended Daklinza (daclatasvir) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The recommendation is specifically for patients with advanced liver disease, for whom treatment options can be limited.

5 Jun 2015

PQBP1 protein could improve body's immune response to HIV vaccines

In a scientific discovery that has significant implications for preventing HIV infections, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have identified a protein that could improve the body's immune response to HIV vaccines and prevent transmission of the virus.

5 Jun 2015

Regulus Therapeutics begins RG-012 Phase I clinical study for treatment of Alport syndrome

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, announced today that dosing has begun in a first-in-human Phase I clinical study of RG-012, a single stranded, chemically modified oligonucleotide that binds to and inhibits the function of microRNA-21 ("miR-21").

4 Jun 2015

Penn Medicine researchers explore primary player involved in T cell exhaustion

Sometimes even cells get tired. When the T cells of your immune system are forced to deal over time with cancer or a chronic infection such as HIV or hepatitis C, they can develop 'T cell exhaustion,' becoming less effective and losing their ability to attack and destroy the invaders of the body.

4 Jun 2015

Anna Nele Meckler and Armelle Corpet to receive SNSF's 2015 Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize

The biologist Armelle Corpet and paleo-climatologist Anna Nele Meckler will receive the 2015 Marie Heim-Vögtlin (MHV) Prize. This distinction rewards their remarkable scientific work supported by a MHV grant. The prize will be bestowed on 23 September 2015 at the Swiss National Science Foundation.

4 Jun 2015

Roche announces FDA 510(k) clearance for cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test

Roche announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has provided 510(k) clearance for the cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test for the direct detection and differentiation of HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA in anogenital specimens from symptomatic patients. With dual target detection and automation, the cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test provides laboratories with the capability to report up to 94 results in significantly less time than traditional methods and provides a simplified workflow for sample handling in the laboratory.

4 Jun 2015

FDA grants exclusivity to Flublok influenza vaccine for 12 years

Protein Sciences Corporation announced that in a rare move, the FDA is granting exclusivity to Flublok for a period of 12 years. Flublok is the first vaccine awarded this very important status, demonstrating Flublok as a unique and game changing influenza vaccine.

3 Jun 2015

The Lancet publishes new Seminar on MERS

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) has recently returned to the headlines as new cases have been exported to Korea and China. Experts are concerned that MERS cases continued to be detected in Saudi Arabia throughout the past year, and there appears to be little reduction in the number of cases since its first discovery three years ago. As the month of Ramadan approaches, with 1 million pilgrims expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia in June and July 2015, MERS remains a threat to global health security.

3 Jun 2015

Baruch S. Blumberg Institute engaged to conduct study using ContraVir's new HBV therapeutic candidate

ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of targeted antiviral therapies, announced today that it has engaged the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, the non-profit research sister organization of the Hepatitis B Foundation, to conduct a series of experiments using ContraVir's hepatitis B program, CMX157.

3 Jun 2015

Research finding could explain why HIV envelope protein has a long tail

Virologists at Emory University School of Medicine, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta have uncovered a critical detail explaining how HIV assembles its infectious yet stealthy clothing.

3 Jun 2015

ProBioGen initiates clinical trials of Ebola vaccine using AGE1.CR.pIX cell line

Complex biologics development and manufacturing specialist ProBioGen today announced that an investigational vaccine against Ebola virus disease, produced on its proprietary, continuous muscovy duck AGE1.CR.pIX cell line, has proceeded into clinical trials at the Jenner Institute, Oxford University, UK.

3 Jun 2015

Two new groups of viruses discovered within Bunyavirus family in Ivory Coast tropical forest

Researchers at the University of Bonn and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have discovered two new groups of viruses within the Bunyavirus family in the tropical forest of Ivory Coast. Previously only five groups responsible for serious illnesses in humans and animals were known.

2 Jun 2015

Talimogene laherparepvec treatment shows durable clinical responses in advanced-stage melanoma patients

Research led by Howard L. Kaufman, MD, FACS, associate director for clinical science and chief surgical officer at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and colleagues, shows advanced-stage melanoma patients have significant improvement in durable response rate and a trend toward improved survival when treated with a genetically-modified form of a herpes virus, whose native form causes the common cold sore.

2 Jun 2015

Telbivudine drug prevents perinatal transmission of HBV

The antiviral drug telbivudine prevents perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV), according to a study in the June issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

2 Jun 2015

Chronic exposure to bacteria may lead to development of Type 2 diabetes

Bacteria and viruses have an obvious role in causing infectious diseases, but microbes have also been identified as the surprising cause of other illnesses, including cervical cancer (Human papilloma virus) and stomach ulcers (H. pylori bacteria).

2 Jun 2015

miR-181b potential biomarker of replication, progression in chronic HBV

A Chinese team reports a correlation between serum levels of microRNA-181b and hepatitis B virus replication and disease progression in patients with chronic HBV infection.

1 Jun 2015

TDF alone may be sufficient maintenance in chronic HBV patients

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate monotherapy may be sufficient to maintain complete virological suppression in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection previously treated with TDF plus entecavir, suggests a review of patients.

1 Jun 2015

Meta-analysis sheds light on effectiveness of chronic HBV treatments

A meta-analysis of treatments for chronic hepatitis B virus infection suggests that tenofovir disoproxil fumarate is the most effective option for patients positive and negative for hepatitis B e antigen, but the latter group may also benefit from entecavir treatment.

1 Jun 2015

Vaccines - a needle-free future? An interview with Thomas Johnston and Dr. Kees Leenhouts, Mucosis

Scientists recognize that 90% of pathogens actually enter the body through the mucosa and secondly, we have evolved a mucosal defense system that can be used to defend against disease...

1 Jun 2015