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Acclaimed virologist delivers the 2010 Leeuwenhoek prize lecture

Acclaimed virologist Robert Webster, Ph.D., of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, presented the 2010 Leeuwenhoek prize lecture today, a prestigious recognition awarded by the Royal Society in London.

16 Jun 2010

Pervasive bacterial presence unique to contaminated drywall identified

RealTime Laboratories, LLC announced today significant new findings regarding pervasive bacterial presence unique to contaminated drywall. RealTime has identified specific bacteria found only in symptomatic drywall and not in normal domestic drywall that are viable, pervasive and produce hydrogen sulfide and reduced sulfur gases under conditions similar to those found in residences.

16 Jun 2010

Vitamin D may help reduce incidence, severity of viral respiratory tract infections: Study

Vitamin D may help reduce the incidence and severity of viral respiratory tract infections including influenza, according to a new study conducted by investigators at Greenwich Hospital and Yale University School of Medicine.

16 Jun 2010

Washington Post examines trial in Africa of long-acting vaginal ring for HIV prevention

"The first test of a long-acting vaginal ring loaded with an HIV-preventing drug has begun enrolling women in southern Africa," the Washington Post reports. The study, according to the newspaper, marks the 15th trial led by the nonprofit group, International Partnership for Microbicides, which "has helped lead the search for a discreet, woman-controlled means of protection" against the virus.

16 Jun 2010

AIDS activists to protest BMS' Reyataz pricing, policies at Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference

“All of AHF's efforts, including this protest, are designed to let people know that BMS is causing great harm to people with HIV/AIDS with its unwarranted pricing of Reyataz”

15 Jun 2010

EMA COMP grants orphan medicinal product designation for Raptor's DR Cysteamine for cystinosis

Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp., announced that the European Medicines Agency's ("EMA") Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products ("COMP") has issued a positive opinion recommending orphan medicinal product designation for DR Cysteamine for the potential treatment of cystinosis.

15 Jun 2010

Inovio commences immunization in U.S. Phase I clinical trial of SynCon H5N1 influenza DNA vaccine

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that it has immunized its first subject in a U.S. Phase I clinical trial to evaluate its SynCon™ H5N1 (avian) influenza DNA vaccine, VGX-3400X.

15 Jun 2010

New insight into sleeping sickness parasite

Fresh discoveries about the parasite that causes sleeping sickness could lead to new avenues of research into treatments for the disease.

15 Jun 2010

Regulatory T cells delay arrival of TB-fighting T cells

The outcome of tuberculosis infection in mice depends in part on how quickly bacteria-fighting T cells can get to the lungs. According to a new study that will appear online on June 14th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, another group of T cells delays their arrival.

15 Jun 2010

New insight into transmission of prion diseases

Prion diseases are lethal neurodegenerative disorders that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE; commonly known as mad cow disease) in cows. A team of researchers, led by Adriano Aguzzi and Christina Sigurdson, at Universit-tsSpital Z-rich, Switzerland, has generated data in mice that provides greater understanding of the factors that determine how easy it is for prion diseases to be transmitted to a new host species.

15 Jun 2010

Study shows NAT programs increase HIV detection yield by 23%

Community-based HIV testing programs generally use only HIV antibody testing, but nucleic acid testing can detect the presence of HIV earlier. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine studied more than 3,000 patients who sought HIV testing in community-based clinics in or near San Diego to examine the yield of testing with a rapid test plus NAT and to see whether patients would be willing to access their results by phone or computer.

15 Jun 2010

Canada invites Africa, Caribbean, South American leaders to meeting during upcoming G8 summit

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday invited several leaders from Africa, the Caribbean and South America "to a meeting on development and security issues, to be held on the sidelines of the G8 summit later this month," Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Jun 2010

Entomologists to develop genetically engineered bacteria for killing mosquito larvae

Roughly half the world's population still lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission. Even in the United States, 1500 cases of malaria are reported annually on average.

15 Jun 2010

MRSA survivors unite across the globe to raise awareness and educate public on prevention

MRSA Survivors Network with MRSA survivors, family members and other victims of healthcare-acquired infections unite across the globe and on World MRSA Day, October 2, 2010 in a grassroots movement to raise awareness and push for more mandated reporting of infections, MRSA screening laws, funds to raise awareness and educate the public on prevention, which will save lives.

15 Jun 2010

'Micro-ear' to screen for malaria, sleeping sickness

A team of researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, and the UK's National Institute of Medical Research at Mill Hill, are developing a 'micro-ear' which may help develop medicines and screening for diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness in Africa. The project is in two parts, explains Professor Jon Cooper, a bio-engineer at University of Glasgow.

14 Jun 2010

Human Genome Sciences receives FDA feedback for ZALBIN BLA

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. today announced that it has received preliminary written feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the Company's Biologics License Application (BLA) seeking approval in the United States to market 900-mcg ZALBIN™ (albinterferon alfa-2b, known in Europe as JOULFERON®) dosed every two weeks for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. FDA has expressed concerns regarding the risk benefit assessment of ZALBIN dosed at 900-mcg every two weeks.

14 Jun 2010

Monoclonal antibodies induce long-lasting, protective antiviral immune response

Monoclonal antibodies are the largest class of biotherapeutic drugs. When administered to infected organisms to blunt the propagation of pathogenic viruses, they may also induce a long-lasting and protective antiviral immune response similar to that achieved by vaccination. These results obtained in mice by the "Oncogenèse et Immunothérapie" group at the Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier (CNRS/Universités Montpellier 1 and 2), have been published on 10 June in PLoS Pathogens.

14 Jun 2010

ARCA receives approval to commence enrollment of first therapeutic trial using HIV vaccine candidate

News on the progress of a new trial may give new hope to patients with HIV who are dependent on anti-HIV drugs. The AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta has received approval to begin enrollment of the first therapeutic trial ever conducted using a promising HIV vaccine candidate from Atlanta-based, GeoVax Inc, a biotechnology company that creates, develops and tests innovative HIV/AIDS vaccines.

14 Jun 2010

NIH researchers' findings about malaria parasites in bloodstream could lead to development of new drugs

NIH researchers have "identified two previously unknown steps in the spread of the malaria parasite in the bloodstream" and found a way to interfere with one stage of the process, which could lead to the development of new malaria drugs, United Press International reports (6/10). The study was published online in Current Biology, according to an NIH press release (6/10).

14 Jun 2010

FRC praises decision of federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability

Family Research Council praised today's decision by the federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability to reject any change in current blood donation rules. Current policy provides that men who have had sex with men at any time since 1977 are permanently "deferred" from acting as blood donors, because of the high rates of HIV infection in that population. The panel, which offers non-binding advice to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, voted 9-6 on Friday afternoon against recommending any immediate change in the policy.

14 Jun 2010

Disease/Infection News

Acclaimed virologist delivers the 2010 Leeuwenhoek prize lecture

Pervasive bacterial presence unique to contaminated drywall identified

Vitamin D may help reduce incidence, severity of viral respiratory tract infections: Study

Washington Post examines trial in Africa of long-acting vaginal ring for HIV prevention

AIDS activists to protest BMS' Reyataz pricing, policies at Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference

EMA COMP grants orphan medicinal product designation for Raptor's DR Cysteamine for cystinosis

Inovio commences immunization in U.S. Phase I clinical trial of SynCon H5N1 influenza DNA vaccine

New insight into sleeping sickness parasite

Regulatory T cells delay arrival of TB-fighting T cells

New insight into transmission of prion diseases

Study shows NAT programs increase HIV detection yield by 23%

Canada invites Africa, Caribbean, South American leaders to meeting during upcoming G8 summit

Entomologists to develop genetically engineered bacteria for killing mosquito larvae

MRSA survivors unite across the globe to raise awareness and educate public on prevention

'Micro-ear' to screen for malaria, sleeping sickness

Human Genome Sciences receives FDA feedback for ZALBIN BLA

Monoclonal antibodies induce long-lasting, protective antiviral immune response

ARCA receives approval to commence enrollment of first therapeutic trial using HIV vaccine candidate

NIH researchers' findings about malaria parasites in bloodstream could lead to development of new drugs

FRC praises decision of federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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