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NIH awards $1.9M grant to Scripps Research scientist for malaria study

A scientist from The Scripps Research Institute has won a four-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to better understand the parasite that causes malaria, laying the groundwork to develop better drugs to combat the widespread and deadly disease.

10 Jun 2011

Pall's GeneDisc System helps German authorities screen for deadly E.coli strain

Pall Corporation's GeneDisc System is helping German authorities screen for a deadly strain of E.coli that has sickened nearly 3000 people and disrupted that nation's food industry. Pall's GeneDisc technology is being used by Germany's national reference laboratory to expedite testing of food samples for the toxic strain of the pathogen known as E.coli O104:H4.

From Pall Corporation 10 Jun 2011

FDA grants Fast Track Designation for Emergent BioSolutions' NuThrax vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that its investigational anthrax vaccine, NuThrax, has been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

10 Jun 2011

Global initiative to prevent HIV in babies

World leaders met to decide on the launch of a global plan with the goal of ensuring that every baby is born HIV-free by 2015 and that their mothers with the HIV virus live to raise them.

9 Jun 2011

New vaccines on the horizon

In a report published in The Lancet, researchers say there is the potential to develop 20 new or improved vaccines over the next decade. They emphasize that funding is crucial - but so is trust and confidence in vaccines. It is said that AIDS and malaria vaccines as the most important areas for research. Authors further suggest that neglected tropical diseases, such as leprosy, should also be investigated.

9 Jun 2011

The ‘decade of vaccines’ has the potential to save lives, many challenges ahead

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges—and save another 6.4 million lives over the current decade, according articles in the June 2011 edition of Health Affairs. The issue was produced under the journal’s grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

9 Jun 2011

New vaccine leads to dramatic fall in meningitis A cases

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger report the lowest number of confirmed meningitis A cases ever recorded during an epidemic season this year following the successful introduction of a new vaccine that could eliminate the primary cause of the deadly disease from Africa's meningitis belt, announced the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) today, which spearheaded development of the vaccine.

9 Jun 2011

Ilex, Cerus partner to distribute INTERCEPT Blood System in Israel and South Africa

Cerus Corporation today announced today that it has entered into agreements with Ilex Biotech Limited to distribute Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma in South Africa and Israel.

9 Jun 2011

Make antiretroviral therapy 'cornerstone' of HIV prevention

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention and multiple signatories in a statement call on governments, advocates and researchers to act on the evidence from HPTN 052 and make antiretroviral therapy a cornerstone of the set of proven strategies we have to prevent and treat HIV.

9 Jun 2011

IAS calls on leaders to include HIV cure research in global strategy

The International AIDS Society (IAS) in a statement released ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS "calls on leaders to ensure the inclusion of HIV cure research and its global strategy into the international HIV agenda and in all discussions, political decisions and funding strategies."

9 Jun 2011

UNICEF representative highlights humanitarian challenges in Yemen

Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF's representative in Yemen, said the country is facing humanitarian challenges and is "absolutely in dire need of humanitarian assistance," Reuters reports.

9 Jun 2011

Number of new E. coli cases abating but more deaths expected

"Germany reported two more deaths and 300 more E. coli cases Wednesday, but its health minister insisted that new infections were dropping, giving some hope that the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak was abating," Associated Press reports.

9 Jun 2011

Media examine HIV/AIDS epidemic as U.N. meeting prepares to convene

This week, political leaders will gather in New York at the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS to "frame the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS," Nature News reports. The article includes a Q&A with Anthony Fauci, head of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who "explains what scientists hope the U.N. meeting will achieve".

9 Jun 2011

Torrential rains trigger flooding, mudslides, additional cholera cases in Haiti

"At least 20 people have died due to torrential downpours in Haiti, authorities said Tuesday, and aid agencies are scrambling to respond to a resurgence of cholera triggered by the heavy rain," CNN reports.

9 Jun 2011

Adults with herpes zoster may face higher risk of multiple sclerosis

Taiwanese investigators have found that there can be a significantly higher risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurring in the year following a shingles, or herpes zoster, attack.

9 Jun 2011

IPS examines negotiations over intellectual property laws affecting generic AIDS drugs

Inter Press Service examines how "moves by developed nations such as the United States to tighten intellectual property laws are threatening to limit production and distribution of generic drugs, which experts say have been and will remain key in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and currently account for 80 percent of HIV/AIDS treatment."

9 Jun 2011

U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts resolution on peacekeeping and AIDS

The U.N. Security Council "has unanimously adopted a resolution underlining the need for continued international action to halt the impact of HIV and AIDS in conflict and post-conflict situations," VOA News reports.

9 Jun 2011

Adjuvant combination generates memory CD8 T cells which could kill infected cells

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered how to prime a second arm of the immune system to potentially boost influenza vaccine effectiveness. A combination of two adjuvants, chemicals used to boost the effectiveness of some vaccines, induced CD8, or killer, T cells to join antibodies in response to influenza infection.

9 Jun 2011

Rockefeller, Scripps Research develop first genetically humanized mouse model for hepatitis C

Scientists at Rockefeller University and The Scripps Research Institute have developed the first genetically humanized mouse model for hepatitis C, an achievement that will enable researchers to test molecules that block entry of the hepatitis C virus into cells as well as potential vaccine candidates. The finding is reported in the June 9 issue of the journal Nature.

9 Jun 2011

Scientists, advocacy experts form new international Foundation for Vaccine Research

Fourteen leading scientists and advocacy experts in vaccines and infectious diseases have announced the formation of a new international Foundation to advance and accelerate vaccine research and development against infectious diseases.

9 Jun 2011