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NIH awards $3.4M grant for preclinical development of novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine

GlycoVaxyn AG, a leader in the development of innovative bioconjugate vaccines, and Professor Jean Lee, principal investigator at the Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, announced today that they have received a USD 3.4 million NIH grant to finance preclinical development of a novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine. S. aureus is a major cause of hospital-based infections.

4 May 2010

First of 5 Grand Challenges: Create point-of-care tools to diagnose range of illnesses

The Hon. James Flaherty, Minister of Finance for Canada, today announced the launch of Grand Challenges Canada, an innovative initiative that will help redefine Canada's role in the developing world by bringing together Canadian scientists, developing world scientific researchers, and the private sector to solve some of the most persistent health challenges facing poor countries.

4 May 2010

National Cancer Institute data: San Francisco has highest rate of liver cancer in the nation

Recent data released from the National Cancer Institute confirms that San Francisco has the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation. The leading cause of liver cancer is hepatitis B.

4 May 2010

Author of new study calls for responsible media coverage of public health emergencies

A study of emergency department activity before and during the H1N1 influenza pandemic highlights the role public fear can play in unnecessarily straining medical facilities and will aid in ongoing preparations for public health emergencies, according to the authors.

4 May 2010

Study finds standard heel-stick test ineffective in identifying CMV infection in babies

A national study involving a UT Southwestern Medical Center neonatologist and pediatric infectious diseases specialist suggests that a screening test routinely performed in newborns is not very good at identifying cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a leading cause of hearing loss in children.

4 May 2010

H1N1 positivity highest among children

More than 99 percent of specimens tested for influenza were positive for H1N1 over approximately the past 11 months, according to a report released today from Quest Diagnostics Incorporated ( DGX). The Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™ Report suggests that H1N1 "crowded out" other influenza viruses to be the dominant flu virus of the 2009-2010 flu season.

4 May 2010

Bacteria transmitted by fleas-and potentially ticks-can be passed to babies by mother: Researcher

A North Carolina State University researcher has discovered that bacteria transmitted by fleas-and potentially ticks-can be passed to human babies by the mother, causing chronic infections and raising the possibility of bacterially induced birth defects.

4 May 2010

Older children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009: Study

Children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009 were older and more likely to have underlying medical conditions than children hospitalized with seasonal influenza during prior flu seasons, according to a study to be presented Tuesday, May 4 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

4 May 2010

Opinions: Malaria bed net concerns; Catholic Church's humanitarian work; Abortion, global health; Foreign aid reform; Canada's G8 initiative

"To date, millions of dollars from international agencies, NGOs and USAID have been spent to get treated nets into the hands of impoverished, sub-Saharan Africans [to prevent malaria]. ... But, as even the staunchest advocate will admit, the treated nets were not designed with the cultural preferences of the rural African villager in mind," Sonia Shah, author of upcoming book about malaria, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.

4 May 2010

TB Alliance, AstraZeneca sign research collaboration agreement to develop drugs against tuberculosis

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and AstraZeneca announced today at the 2010 BIO International Convention that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to accelerate the discovery, development and clinical use of drugs against tuberculosis, including drug resistant strains of the disease.

4 May 2010

Fate of the unused swine flu vaccines

The United States Government in an announcement on Monday revealed that the U.S. still has 71 million doses of unused H1N1 swine flu vaccine but there is still time left before it is wasted. They have urged the providers to keep the vaccines and continue to supply them to people until pharmaceutical manufacturers start distributing seasonal vaccine for the coming influenza season in the autumn.

4 May 2010

WHO, UNICEF issue guide, call for more research into medicines for children

Along with the release of a WHO-UNICEF guide on medicines for children, the U.N. agencies on Friday said the guide "exposed dangerous shortfalls" in medicines designed for children and called for more research into treating children, Reuters reports. "While effective medicines exist to fight disease and treat life-threatening conditions like malnutrition, formulations suitable for children are often difficult to source," Francisco Blanco, UNICEF's chief of medicines and nutrition, said, according to the news service.

3 May 2010

Weight loss through caloric restriction and increase in physical activity improve symptoms of GERD

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a debilitating problem for sufferers -- heartburn, difficulty swallowing, chest pain and acid reflux. According to a Mayo Clinic study that will be presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2010 in New Orleans May 1-5, even moderate weight gain can exacerbate those symptoms, DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researcher in the field of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

3 May 2010

PlusNews/IRIN examines HIV/AIDS elements of new adult mortality data

PlusNews/IRIN examines what the global adult mortality data, released Friday in the journal Lancet, suggests about HIV/AIDS. According to the news service, the study, based on an analysis of adult mortality rates between 1970 and 2010 in 187 countries, revealed: "HIV was key to reversing the worldwide decline in mortality from 1970 to 1990. Even though worldwide mortality is still about 26 percent lower than it was 40 years ago, there are regional imbalances.

3 May 2010

Protect eyes from sun's UV rays to decrease risk of eye diseases, disorders

With summer right around the corner, more people will be spending time outdoors and UV protection will be top of mind. Unfortunately, most people think about the protection of their skin, when they should also be considering the safety of their eyes. In fact, according to the American Optometric Association's (AOA) American Eye-Q® survey, only one-third of Americans said UV protection is the most important factor they consider when purchasing sunglasses.

3 May 2010

Progress in development of gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration

Veterinary vision scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have safely and successfully used a viral vector in targeting a class of photoreceptors of the retina called rods, a critical first step in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration.

3 May 2010

Santen licenses Clinical Data's ATL313 agonist compound for development of ophthalmic treatments

Clinical Data, Inc., and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., today announced that Santen has exercised its option to license Clinical Data's highly selective adenosine A2A agonist compound, ATL313, for the development of topical treatments for certain ophthalmic diseases, including glaucoma. ATL313, a promising late-stage preclinical compound, has shown significant pharmacological effects in vivo and has been nominated as a clinical candidate.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 3 May 2010

Raptor Pharmaceutical presents positive results from Phase 2a trial of DR cysteamine bitartrate for NASH

Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp., announced positive Phase 2a clinical trial results from its pilot study of delayed-release cysteamine bitartrate in 11 adolescent patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a progressive form of liver disease believed to affect 5% to 11% of the U.S. population. The results were presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2010 conference in New Orleans, LA on May 2, 2010.

3 May 2010

Researcher finds evidence of how human behavior can influence emergence of infectious disease

After studying the interactions of human and animal populations in Africa, Kathleen Alexander, associate professor of wildlife science in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources, found powerful evidence of how human behavior can influence the emergence of infectious disease in humans and animals.

3 May 2010

Extended hepatitis C treatment increases sustained virological response after liver transplant

Extending hepatitis C treatment for liver transplant patients beyond current standards results in high clearance rates of the hepatitis C virus from the blood, and a low relapse rate, according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.

3 May 2010

Disease/Infection News

NIH awards $3.4M grant for preclinical development of novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine

First of 5 Grand Challenges: Create point-of-care tools to diagnose range of illnesses

National Cancer Institute data: San Francisco has highest rate of liver cancer in the nation

Author of new study calls for responsible media coverage of public health emergencies

Study finds standard heel-stick test ineffective in identifying CMV infection in babies

H1N1 positivity highest among children

Bacteria transmitted by fleas-and potentially ticks-can be passed to babies by mother: Researcher

Older children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009: Study

Opinions: Malaria bed net concerns; Catholic Church's humanitarian work; Abortion, global health; Foreign aid reform; Canada's G8 initiative

TB Alliance, AstraZeneca sign research collaboration agreement to develop drugs against tuberculosis

Fate of the unused swine flu vaccines

WHO, UNICEF issue guide, call for more research into medicines for children

Weight loss through caloric restriction and increase in physical activity improve symptoms of GERD

PlusNews/IRIN examines HIV/AIDS elements of new adult mortality data

Protect eyes from sun's UV rays to decrease risk of eye diseases, disorders

Progress in development of gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration

Santen licenses Clinical Data's ATL313 agonist compound for development of ophthalmic treatments

Raptor Pharmaceutical presents positive results from Phase 2a trial of DR cysteamine bitartrate for NASH

Researcher finds evidence of how human behavior can influence emergence of infectious disease

Extended hepatitis C treatment increases sustained virological response after liver transplant

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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