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.

Sinovac first quarter sales increase 30.3% to $6.0M

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today its unaudited first quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, 2012.

15 May 2012

Researchers barcode different strains of influenza virus and HRSV

Dr Julian Hiscox and Dr John Barr of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences are working with the Health Protection Agency Porton (HPA) to build a bank of molecular signatures that will help identify the severity of virus infection from characteristic changes seen in cells. Currently the team is barcoding different strains of influenza virus and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) - a virus associated with the onset of asthma in young children.

14 May 2012

Examining the need for WHO today

Responding to an opinion piece published in Nature Medicine last week in which Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore and former director of research policy and cooperation at the WHO, and Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, argue the case for reforming and improving the WHO, KPLU's Tom Paulson writes in a post on KPLU 88.5's "Humanosphere" blog.

10 May 2012

IDRI, Aeras partner to develop new TB vaccine candidate

Aeras and the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) announce today a new agreement to conduct joint development activities with respect to IDRI's novel tuberculosis vaccine candidate. This collaboration reflects the missions of the two non-profit product development partnerships to use cutting-edge science to develop products that address critical diseases of underserved populations around the world, including tuberculosis.

10 May 2012

BioDiem announces new vaccine research collaboration with French-based VIVALIS

Australian vaccine development company BioDiem Ltd (ASX: BDM) today announced that it has begun a research collaboration with France-based VIVALIS (Euronext code: VLS), a biopharmaceutical company with expertise in vaccine production technologies.

9 May 2012

iBio receives U.S. patent for iBioModulator platform

iBio, Inc. today announced issuance of a US patent covering compositions of matter and methods of use of modified lichenase B polypeptides comprising the Company's iBioModulator platform.

9 May 2012

Researchers discover potential way to develop universal flu vaccines

University of British Columbia researchers have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations.

8 May 2012

Johns Hopkins receives $15 million NIH grant to establish CFAR

Johns Hopkins University has been awarded $15 million over the next five years from the National Institutes of Health to establish the new Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). CFAR will support more than 180 HIV investigators from the University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and other schools. A major priority for CFAR will be to address Baltimore's HIV epidemic in addition to training new investigators and conducting international research.

5 May 2012

Nature publishes first of two controversial studies on H5N1 avian flu

"In a long-awaited study that helped prompt a contentious debate over the wisdom of conducting research that has the potential to help as well as harm, scientists reported Wednesday that they had engineered a mutant strain of [H5N1] bird flu that can spread easily between ferrets -- a laboratory animal that responds to flu viruses much as people do," the Los Angeles Times (Brown, 5/3).

4 May 2012

One of the controversial avian flu studies published in full finally

After endless debates and controversies on whether two studies that demonstrated how bird flu, also known as avian H5N1 influenza, or avian flu, should be published, one of them has appeared in the latest issue of the journal Nature in its entirety. The two studies aimed for publication in journals Nature and Science show how the bird flu virus could become transmissible from mammal-to-mammal; as humans are mammals, the same would apply to humans.

4 May 2012

HIV/AIDS funding does not undermine efforts to fight other diseases, study suggests

"While the battle against HIV/AIDS attracts more donor funding globally than all other diseases combined, it has not diverted attention from fighting unrelated afflictions -- such as malaria, measles and malnutrition -- and may be improving health services overall in targeted countries, according to a study on Rwanda published" Wednesday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) press release reports.

4 May 2012

BD second quarter revenues increase 3.6% to $1.991 billion

BD, a leading global medical technology company, today reported quarterly revenues of $1.991 billion for the second fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2012, representing an increase of 3.6 percent from the prior-year period, or 4.6 percent on a foreign currency-neutral basis.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 2 May 2012

World behind on pledge to reduce HIV/AIDS infections, improve treatment, U.N. report says

"The world is falling behind in its pledge to reduce HIV/AIDS infections and improve treatment, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a U.N. report released Monday" by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Associated Press reports.

2 May 2012

Bats may be a common source of many viral diseases

Where do viruses dangerous to humans come from, and how have they evolved? Scientists working with Prof. Dr. Christian Drosten, Head of the In-stitute for Virology at the Universit-tsklinikum Bonn, have made significant progress in answering this question. "We already knew from prior studies that bats and rodents play a role as carriers of paramyxoviruses," said Prof. Drosten.

25 Apr 2012

New drug can prevent exacerbations of asthma due to common cold: Trial report

For the tens of thousands of asthma sufferers in the UK there is a “breakthrough” drug that reduces complications caused by the common cold, it is claimed.

22 Apr 2012

Positive data from Synairgen’s SNG001 Phase II trial on asthma

Scientists from the University of Southampton and Synairgen, a respiratory drug development company spun out from the University, can announce positive data from its Phase II clinical trial, into the effectiveness of the drug SNG001 (inhaled interferon beta) for asthma patients.

20 Apr 2012

Scientists discover new anti-HCV antibodies

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has found antibodies that can prevent infection from widely differing strains of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in cell culture and animal models.

4 Apr 2012

Controversial study on lethal bird flu virus strain to be published

The controversial study on lethal flu virus strain is likely to be published in full. Last December the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity - NSABB recommended the two papers not be published in full by the journals - Nature and Science. The panel was concerned that details of the studies, which induced mutations in the H5N1 avian flu virus that made it transmissible among mammals by air rather than by close physical contact, could be used for bioterrorism. Critics of the recommendation raised fears that important science was being censored.

2 Apr 2012

Inovio awarded U.S. DOD grant to advance non-invasive surface electroporation delivery device

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today it has received a U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Grant to advance the development of a low-cost, non-invasive surface electroporation (EP) delivery device and test its utility in combination with Inovio's novel synthetic DNA vaccines against viruses with bioterrorism potential, including hanta, puumala, arenavirus and pandemic influenza.

2 Apr 2012

Avian and swine flu viruses hijack genetic regulators during human infection

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have identified a number of tiny but powerful "genetic regulators" that are hijacked by avian and swine flu viruses during human infection.

29 Mar 2012