Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Malaria elimination could be a reality soon

Malaria – a mosquito borne illness kills more than 780,000 people a year worldwide. Nearly a third of all countries affected by malaria are on course to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease over the next 10 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

18 Oct 2011

First results from phase 3 malaria vaccine candidate trial

First results from a large-scale Phase III trial of RTS,S, published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), show the malaria vaccine candidate to provide young African children with significant protection against clinical and severe malaria with an acceptable safety and tolerability profile. The results were announced today at the Malaria Forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington.

18 Oct 2011

New promise of a malaria vaccine

New results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine about a large-scale Phase III trial conducted in seven African countries of the malaria vaccine candidate RTS,S deserve a hearty round of applause.

18 Oct 2011

HMS launches Initiative in Systems Pharmacology

Taking aim at the alarming slowdown in the development of new and lifesaving drugs, Harvard Medical School is launching an Initiative in Systems Pharmacology, a comprehensive strategy to transform drug discovery by convening biologists, chemists, pharmacologists, physicists, computer scientists and clinicians to explore together how drugs work in complex systems.

18 Oct 2011

Researchers discover peacekeeper-immune cells in outer layers of human skin

There are more bacteria living on our skin and in our gut than cells in our body. We need them. But until now no-one knew how the immune system could tell that these bacteria are harmless.

18 Oct 2011

Two genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to severe dengue

Researchers in South East Asia have identified two genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to severe dengue. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore, offers clues to how the body responds to dengue infection.

18 Oct 2011

Oncobiologics signs two major pharmaceutical agreements

Oncobiologics announced today that it has signed two major agreements. The first is with Parilis Biopharmaceuticals, an early-stage biotech company, and involves worldwide licensing for an undisclosed biotherapeutic product. The second is with a US based large pharmaceutical company to conduct research focused on solving issues related to downstream processing of monoclonal antibodies.

14 Oct 2011

InnaVirVax announces Phase I/IIa clinical trial authorization for its VAC-3S HIV vaccine

InnaVirVax, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of therapeutic and diagnostic solutions in pathologies associated with immune dysregulation, declared today that it has obtained authorization from the French drug agency (AFSSAPS) to start a Phase I/IIa clinical study of its therapeutic vaccine VAC-3S for the treatment of HIV infections. This authorization intervenes only two years and half after the launching of InnaVirVax’s activities.

14 Oct 2011

New insights into how adenovirus triggers an immune response

A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study could lead to improved gene therapies for conditions such as heart disease and cancer as well as more effective vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.

13 Oct 2011

SWHR hosts Capitol Hill briefing, The War Within: Women and Autoimmunity

50:1, 9:1, 2:1 these are just some ratios of autoimmune disease disparities between women and men. The Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) hosted the Capitol Hill briefing, The War Within: Women and Autoimmunity, on Tuesday, October 11 to address these concerns.

13 Oct 2011

Simmons Center to evaluate CGEN-25009 for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Compugen Ltd. and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation announced today that the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation will provide a grant to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Dorothy P. and Richard P.

13 Oct 2011

Three key steps to prevent asthma attacks in children during winter

For most people, the word "autumn" conjures up images of honey crisp apples, pumpkin patches and Halloween. But for many pediatricians, fall also means more patients with asthma flare-ups.

13 Oct 2011

GeneDx launches new genetic test to accurately diagnose rare diseases

At the joint conference of the American Society of Human Genetics/International Congress on Human Genetics in Montreal on October 12, GeneDx, one of the foremost genetics laboratories in the world and a subsidiary of Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc., is announcing a first-of-its-kind test that will enable physicians and patients to more accurately identify the genetic cause of rare diseases.

13 Oct 2011

Peanut allergy could be switched off

Now researchers may have discovered how to switch off food allergies. Researchers from Northwestern University found a way to tweak the immune system so that it doesn’t react when foods like peanuts and eggs are encountered – in mice.

12 Oct 2011

Incoming dean of Weill Cornell receives 2011 ICS Honorary Lifetime Membership

Dr. Laurie Glimcher, the incoming dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, has received the 2011 International Cytokine Society (ICS) Honorary Lifetime Membership, the Society's highest honor, for her pivotal contributions to cytokine research, particularly as it relates to immune response.

12 Oct 2011

Vitamin D plays an essential role in the body's fight against TB

Not just important for building strong bones, an international team of scientists has found that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the body's fight against infections such as tuberculosis.

12 Oct 2011

Diethylstilbestrol in utero affects immune system of the fetus

A synthetic estrogen — diethylstilbestrol (DES), prescribed to women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s to prevent miscarriages, had serious, untoward effects in daughters of these women, including the development of a rare type of cancer of the uterus.

11 Oct 2011

Coridon demonstrates 100% protection using DNA HSV-2 vaccine

DNA vaccine development company Coridon Pty Ltd. today announced that it had successfully completed pre-clinical efficacy testing of its prototype Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2) vaccine, with outstanding results. The company will now look to progress the program into clinical studies.

10 Oct 2011

Researchers identify cellular pathway to potentially block disease-inducing inflammation

Researchers have discovered a cellular pathway that promotes inflammation in diseases like asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis. Understanding the details of this pathway may provide opportunities for tailored treatments of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

10 Oct 2011

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute releases upgraded ENISI software

Researchers with the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have released an upgrade to the institute's ENteric Immunity SImulator (ENISI) software, which models immune responses to beneficial and harmful bacteria that enter the gastrointestinal tract of mice, pigs, and humans.

7 Oct 2011