Pandemic News and Research

RSS

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.

Scientists receive HHS grant to investigate DSC127 in treatment of skin injuries linked with radiation exposure

Derma Sciences, Inc., a medical device and pharmaceutical company focused on advanced wound care, today announced that researchers who invented DSC127 have been awarded a $4.5 million, 16-month grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to investigate preclinically the use of DSC127 in the treatment of skin injuries associated with acute radiation exposure.

23 Feb 2011

Vical extends relationship with U.S. NMRC for emerging disease vaccine platform

Vical Incorporated announced today that the company has extended its relationship with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center to develop its platform technology for the rapid development and production of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.

22 Feb 2011

Novavax announces final safety, immunogenicity results from H1N1 VLP vaccine at WHO meeting

Novavax, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today presented the final safety and immunogenicity results from its 2009 H1N1 virus-like particle pandemic influenza vaccine clinical trial in Mexico at the invitation-only 7th World Health Organization Meeting on Evaluation of Pandemic Influenza Vaccines in Clinical Trials.

19 Feb 2011

Daily Report Global Health Conversations: Global health funding and the FY11, FY12 budgets

As Congress considers both the FY11 and FY12 budgets, the Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report's Jaclyn Schiff spoke to Adam Wexler, a senior policy analyst for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, about the potential implications for global health funding.

18 Feb 2011

BARDA awards contracts for development of drugs to treat injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome

Two contracts for advanced development of drugs to treat skin and lung injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome (ARS) were awarded this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). These contracts are the first by BARDA to address the skin and lung injuries that arise from acute exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation - the type of radiation that results from a nuclear blast.

16 Feb 2011

Aeolus receives BARDA contract for AEOL 10150 drug development against ARS

Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of broad spectrum catalytic antioxidant compounds that reduce oxidative stress, inflammation, and subsequent tissue damage-signaling cascades resulting from radiation exposure, today announced that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded Aeolus a contract for the advanced development of AEOL 10150 as a medical countermeasure against the pulmonary sub-syndrome of acute radiation syndrome.

16 Feb 2011

FDA requests $4.3 billion to protect and promote health of Americans as part of FY 2012 budget

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requesting a budget of $4.3 billion to protect and promote the public health as part of the President's fiscal year 2012 budget — a 33 percent increase over the FDA enacted budget for FY 2010. The FY 2012 request covers the period of Oct. 1, 2011, through Sept. 30, 2012.

15 Feb 2011

Rising number of livestock diseases threatens public health, food security in developing countries, report says

"A growing number of livestock, such as cows and pigs, are fuelling new animal epidemics worldwide and posing more severe problems in developing countries as it threatens their food security, according to a report [.pdf] released on Friday" during an international conference in New Delhi, India, on Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition & Health, Reuters reports (Lyn, 2/11).

14 Feb 2011

BioCryst reports net loss of $9.1M for fourth quarter 2010 vs. $15.2M net income for fourth quarter 2009

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2010.

10 Feb 2011

Vical 2010 net loss increases to $30.4 million

Vical Incorporated today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2010. Vical had cash and investments of approximately $61 million at year-end 2010. The company received approximately $37 million of net proceeds from the sale of equity securities during 2010.

10 Feb 2011

Avian flu vaccine stockpiled in 2004 still useful

A stockpiled vaccine designed to fight a strain of avian flu that circulated in 2004 can be combined with a vaccine that matches the current strain of bird flu to protect against a potential pandemic, researchers from Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development have found.

10 Feb 2011

Global Hygiene Council: Three simple steps to keep your family protected against infections

The Global Hygiene Council, a group of leading health and hygiene experts from around the world, convened in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss how proper hygiene plays a critical role in preventing the spread of illness and improving health around the world.

10 Feb 2011

BD and UCLB enter agreement for development of new diagnostics for ovarian, breast cancer

UCL Business (UCLB), a wholly owned subsidiary of University College London (UCL), and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, announced today an agreement aimed at improving the early detection of ovarian and breast cancers to ultimately enable earlier and more effective treatment.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 10 Feb 2011

Medicago granted FDA clearance for clinical development of seasonal flu vaccine

Medicago Inc. a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced it has received Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") clearance for its phase I H1N1 influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H1N1 vaccine") clinical trial in the United States.

9 Feb 2011

Abbott's Ibis, PLEX-ID technologies identify causative organism of plague in Afghanistan

Today, at the American Society for Microbiology Conference on Biodefense and Emerging Diseases, scientists from Abbott Molecular presented data showing the unique power of the company's Ibis technology to identify and further characterize unknown disease-causing pathogens to help aid in the bioforensic analysis of pandemic outbreaks.

8 Feb 2011

BAI releases 2011 State of AIDS in Black America report

The Black AIDS Institute ("BAI"), the only national HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on the Black community in the US, today released its 2011 State of AIDS in Black America report, Deciding Moment. 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the AIDS epidemic in America and presents unique opportunities to curtail the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but key challenges remain to moving forward in the AIDS response in Black America.

7 Feb 2011

Stockpiling flu drugs, vaccines reduces impact of pandemic, but option out of reach for most countries, study finds

"Stockpiling antiviral flu drugs and vaccines saves lives and reduces disease in a flu pandemic," but the cost to maintain such a stockpile and deploy interventions in the event of an outbreak "is too expensive for around two thirds of the world's population, scientists said on Wednesday," Reuters reports.

3 Feb 2011

Public health experts: Improved community engagement needed to prevent pandemic spread

In the current issue of Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, public health experts assert that improved community engagement is needed to prevent the spread of pandemics.

3 Feb 2011

Limited school closures ineffective, strain hospital ICUs during epidemics

Selective schools closures has been considered as a means of reducing transmission between children and hence reducing the number of cases at the peak of an epidemic but new research led by researchers at the University of Warwick shows that limited school closures are ineffective and that only significant widespread school closures would have real effect on the spread of a epidemic and the strain placed on hospital intensive care units.

3 Feb 2011

Swine flu shots linked to narcolepsy: Investigation continues

The vaccine used against swine flu has been linked to a disorder called narcolepsy among those aged four to 19. Narcolepsy involves people falling asleep without warning or sleeping excessively in the daytime. A preliminary study also “observed [an] increase in incidence of narcolepsy” among those given the vaccine.

2 Feb 2011

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Scientists receive HHS grant to investigate DSC127 in treatment of skin injuries linked with radiation exposure

Vical extends relationship with U.S. NMRC for emerging disease vaccine platform

Novavax announces final safety, immunogenicity results from H1N1 VLP vaccine at WHO meeting

Daily Report Global Health Conversations: Global health funding and the FY11, FY12 budgets

BARDA awards contracts for development of drugs to treat injuries associated with acute radiation syndrome

Aeolus receives BARDA contract for AEOL 10150 drug development against ARS

FDA requests $4.3 billion to protect and promote health of Americans as part of FY 2012 budget

Rising number of livestock diseases threatens public health, food security in developing countries, report says

BioCryst reports net loss of $9.1M for fourth quarter 2010 vs. $15.2M net income for fourth quarter 2009

Vical 2010 net loss increases to $30.4 million

Avian flu vaccine stockpiled in 2004 still useful

Global Hygiene Council: Three simple steps to keep your family protected against infections

BD and UCLB enter agreement for development of new diagnostics for ovarian, breast cancer

Medicago granted FDA clearance for clinical development of seasonal flu vaccine

Abbott's Ibis, PLEX-ID technologies identify causative organism of plague in Afghanistan

BAI releases 2011 State of AIDS in Black America report

Stockpiling flu drugs, vaccines reduces impact of pandemic, but option out of reach for most countries, study finds

Public health experts: Improved community engagement needed to prevent pandemic spread

Limited school closures ineffective, strain hospital ICUs during epidemics

Swine flu shots linked to narcolepsy: Investigation continues

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Shaping the Future of Neuroscience: A Conversation with Atlas Antibodies on the MolBoolean™ and the Impact of SfN 2024

How the Arts Reshape Brain Function: Susan Magsamen on the Future of Neuroaesthetics

Inside the Alzheimer's Association: Dr. Heather Snyder on Driving Research and Collaboration

Latest News