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United Therapeutics completes treprostinil diethanolamine Phase 3 trial in PAH

United Therapeutics Corporation announced today the completion of its FREEDOM-C(2) Phase 3 trial of treprostinil diethanolamine, an investigational sustained release oral formulation of treprostinil, a stable synthetic form of prostacyclin, in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

24 Aug 2011

HIV-positive pregnant women across Africa face discrimination

HIV-positive women across Africa are facing discrimination, with many "say[ing] they have been pressured – even forced – not to have children because people assume they will infect their babies," PRI's The World reports. "Across the continent, there have been organized efforts to prevent HIV-positive women from having children," The World writes, referencing family planning programs aimed at HIV-positive women in Kenya, Namibia and Uganda.

24 Aug 2011

PEPFAR releases 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance

PEPFAR recently released its 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance, "which highlights seven program priorities: increasing prevention of mother-to-child transmission coverage and effectiveness; improving and refining the country's approach to treatment; programming for prevention impact; TB/HIV integration; testing and counseling; training new health care providers; and capacity building," according to the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

24 Aug 2011

First international conference on developmental, translational and clinical pharmacogenomics

The first international conference hosted by the University of South Florida College of Pharmacy will focus on ways to improve health care by customizing drug prescribing and treatment based on an individual's genetic makeup.

24 Aug 2011

AHF criticizes HHS for delays and mistakes in distributing HIV/AIDS funds

Today, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) criticized the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) agency for delays and mistakes in distributing funds through the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federal program dedicated to providing care and treatment for people living with HIV. Despite an HHS statement to the contrary, the Foundation says that delays in funding are hurting programs that serve people living with HIV/AIDS across the nation.

23 Aug 2011

NPR interviews author of study on emerging HIV epidemic among MSM in MENA

NPR's health blog "Shots" interviewed Laith Abu-Raddad of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, co-author of a recent study published in PLoS Medicine that showed "more than five percent of men who have sex with men are infected by HIV in" the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), about "the challenges of researching such a taboo topic."

23 Aug 2011

Saint Mark's Cathedral on Capitol Hill to host Seattle AIDS Memorial event

Saint Mark's Cathedral on Capitol Hill will host the Seattle AIDS Memorial on Saturday, September 24, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. Subtitled "30 Years of Sorrow, Comfort and Hope," the memorial commemorates the 30th anniversary of the first HIV/AIDS diagnosis as well as the 25th anniversary of the first AIDS Walk in Seattle.

23 Aug 2011

Should we be screening blood for hepatisi G?

Hepatitis G virus was identified in 1995. Some little research was carried out on the virus and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared it a non-harmful virus in 1997. Researchers in Saudi Arabia, writing in the International Journal of Immunological Studies present evidence to suggest that this may have been the wrong decision.

22 Aug 2011

Micro-organisms hide themselves from immune defences

That micro-organisms have a great capacity to vary their surface structure is well known. It is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to develop vaccines against HIV and malaria, and why new influenza vaccines have to be produced every year. But it seems that these micro-organisms are also able to completely avoid activating a strong immune response in the person attacked.

22 Aug 2011

AHF: Gilead's campaign for FDA approval of Truvada leads to black marketing in Florida

Today AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) decried the fact that the recent campaign by Gilead Sciences Inc. to obtain approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for Truvada as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) has led to a "black market" for the drug in Florida.

20 Aug 2011

WHO spokesperson addresses health, medical needs for Libya on PBS NewsHour

The WHO "is rushing to secure medical supplies for Libya" after the Dutch government on Monday released nearly $145 million in frozen assets from Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi's regime in response to a direct WHO appeal, PBS NewsHour reports.

20 Aug 2011

White House holds call to discuss famine in the Horn of Africa

A post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog highlights a White House call "with faith-based organizations Wednesday afternoon to discuss efforts in the Horn of Africa to combat the extensive famine brought on by a severe drought in the region, the worst seen in decades."

20 Aug 2011

Emory team identifies conditions that make memory T cells slip away during chronic infections

After recovering from the flu or another acute infection, your immune system is ready to react quickly if you run into the same virus again. White blood cells called memory T cells develop during the infection and help the immune system remember the virus and attack it if it comes back.

19 Aug 2011

Isolation of HIV antibodies advances search for AIDS vaccine

A team of researchers has "identified 17 potent antibodies whose discovery opened up valuable pathways in the search for an AIDS vaccine," Agence France-Presse reports.

19 Aug 2011

New book on hemophilia, unintended consequences of medical progress

The Bleeding Disease: Hemophilia and the Unintended Consequences of Medical Progress (John Hopkins University Press) is the new book by NJIT Associate Professor Stephen Pemberton. The book recounts the promising and perilous history of medical and social efforts to manage hemophilia in 20th-century America.

19 Aug 2011

Temple University, URMC partner to translate novel medical research into new drugs

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Temple University School of Pharmacy have announced a partnership that will help translate novel medical research into new drugs for treating diseases.

19 Aug 2011

PrEP raises questions regarding 'risk disinhibition' and drug resistance

Nature News reports on "the possibility of unintended public-health consequences" of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV and pharmaceutical company Gilead's plan to ask the FDA to evaluate its combination antiretroviral (ARV) drug Truvada for use in healthy people.

18 Aug 2011

MSF warns global shortage of drug-resistant TB treatment likely

As countries increase the use of the GeneXpert test, a two-hour molecular TB test released in 2010, "enabl[ing] them to diagnose more patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), a worldwide shortage of the drugs to treat these patients is likely, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warns," according to PlusNews.

18 Aug 2011

Insight into how HIV reservoirs may form

Much like cities organize contingency plans and supplies for emergencies, chronic infectious diseases like HIV form reservoirs that ensure their survival in adverse conditions. But these reservoirs-small populations of viruses or bacteria of a specific type that persist despite attack by the immune system or drug treatment-are not always well understood.

18 Aug 2011

Researchers isolate 17 novel antibodies against HIV

A team of researchers at and associated with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), The Scripps Research Institute, the biotechnology company Theraclone Sciences and Monogram Biosciences Inc., a LabCorp company, report in the current issue of Nature the isolation of 17 novel antibodies capable of neutralizing a broad spectrum of variants of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

18 Aug 2011