Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

CEL-SCI's Multikine cancer drug receives key Japanese patent

CEL-SCI Corporation today announced that the Japanese patent office has issued a key patent covering CEL-SCI's investigational cancer drug, Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection).

29 Nov 2012

Experimental flu vaccine technique could reduce time needed to develop new shots for humans

"An experimental vaccine based on a molecule related to DNA protects animals against influenza and may one day offer an ultra-rapid way to develop new shots for humans, German scientists reported on Sunday," Reuters reports.

27 Nov 2012

mRNA vaccines offer protection against influenza A virus infections in various animal models

CureVac GmbH, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of therapies and vaccines based on mRNA, and the German Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Germany, today announced that mRNA vaccines (RNActive) based on the company's RNA technology platform have the potential to provide effective protection against infectious diseases.

26 Nov 2012

Single dose of Medicago's vaccine could offer cross-protection against flu

Researchers recently found that a single dose of a vaccine being developed by Medicago, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, could protect against not only the avian influenza (H5N1) strain it was designed for, but also another H5N1 strain and a strain of a different flu subtype, called H2N2.

22 Nov 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Flucelvax to prevent seasonal influenza

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today the approval of Flucelvax, the first seasonal influenza vaccine licensed in the United States produced using cultured animal cells, instead of fertilized chicken eggs. Flucelvax is approved to prevent seasonal influenza in people ages 18 years and older.

21 Nov 2012

Facts about Homecare

Millions of seniors and people living with disabilities will enjoy Thanksgiving and other holidays in the comfort and safety of their own homes thanks to home medical equipment and services such as oxygen therapy, hospital beds, and wheelchairs.

21 Nov 2012

Texas Biomed applies patent for new genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV

The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has applied for a patent for a genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV infection that targets the outer layers of body structures that are the first sites of contact with the virus.

20 Nov 2012

New 'people-centered investment approach' could lead to end of global AIDS pandemic

Writing in Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog, Lucy Chesire, executive director and secretary to the board of the TB ACTION Group, notes "countries from north and south, U.N. organizations, private sector companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are meeting in Geneva [this week] at the Board meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to discuss how best to invest available resources against the three killer diseases."

16 Nov 2012

Paxvax PXVX0200 cholera vaccine demonstrates safety and immunogenicity in Phase 1 clinical trial

PaxVax Inc, which develops and commercializes innovative vaccines against infectious diseases in a socially responsible manner today announced results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of PaxVax's single-dose oral cholera vaccine candidate at the 2012 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

15 Nov 2012

BioCryst completes planned interim analysis of peramivir Phase 3 trial for serious influenza

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced completion of the planned interim analysis of the peramivir Phase 3 trial in patients admitted to the hospital with serious influenza. The difference between peramivir and control groups for the primary endpoint was small and the recalculated sample size was greater than the predefined futility boundary of 320 subjects. Based on this information, the independent data monitoring committee (DMC) recommended that the study be terminated for futility.

8 Nov 2012

EPO provides notice of intent to issue European Patent Application for Aethlon Hemopurifier

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing selective therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease, cancer and other life-threatening conditions, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has provided the Company a notice of intent to issue European Patent Application No. 04 703 672.8 entitled "Method For Removal of Viruses From Blood By Lectin Affinity Hemodialysis."

7 Nov 2012

Resolve to fight TB must be strengthened in U.S. global AIDS blueprint

As part of its "Blueprint" series discussing the creation of a U.S. global AIDS blueprint called for by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in July, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog features an opinion piece by Salmaan Keshavjee of Harvard Medical School and Partners In Health. With an estimated 1,000 people with HIV dying of tuberculosis (TB) every day, "it is clear that our current approaches to addressing the global tuberculosis pandemic are inadequate," he writes.

3 Nov 2012

Flu protection: an interview with Dr Gillian SteelFisher of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA

In 2009, a new strain of influenza, or flu, virus emerged and spread rapidly to many countries around the world. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in June 2009.

24 Oct 2012

Interim results from CEL-SCI's Multikine Phase III study on head and neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that an interim review of the safety data from its open label, randomized, controlled, pivotal Phase III study of Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) investigational immunotherapy by an Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) raised no safety concerns.

23 Oct 2012

PLoS ONE publishes review of AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics clinical trial

ViroStatics, a private Italian/American biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for viral and other chronic diseases, announced that a review of the first human clinical trial to test a new class of anti-HIV medications known as AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics (AV-HALTs) has been published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

22 Oct 2012

TB Alliance and FIND partner to promote development of TB drugs and diagnostics

A new partnership announced today will increase efforts to coordinate the development of complementary novel tools to fight TB, including drug-resistant TB, and identify emerging drug resistance trends around the globe.

19 Oct 2012

GSK, Aeras to advance clinical development of TB vaccine

Aeras announces that it has signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, S.A. (GSK) to jointly advance the clinical development of an investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine containing GSK's proprietary M72 antigen and AS01E adjuvant.

10 Oct 2012

New model of influenza transmission can provide real-time information about infections

A new model of influenza transmission, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, using more detailed information about patterns and severity of infection than previous models, finds that cases and transmission rates of H1N1 during the 2009-2010 flu pandemic have been underestimated. This model can provide a more robust and accurate real-time estimate of infection during a pandemic, which will help health services prepare and respond to future outbreaks.

9 Oct 2012

Maths-based tool can quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses

Mathematicians have developed a powerful tool to quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses like the pandemic H1N1 flu strain, which can be used together with modern laboratory techniques to help the healthcare system plan its response to disease outbreaks.