Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Novartis FLUAD seasonal flu vaccine for older adults receives Health Canada approval

Health Canada has approved FLUAD, a Novartis seasonal flu vaccine for adults 65 years and older. Canadian seniors are the hardest hit of all age groups by seasonal influenza and account for 90 per cent of influenza deaths and 70 per cent of hospitalizations.

22 Feb 2011

New technique allows early identification of metastasis in women with breast cancer

A quarter of all women who suffer from breast cancer are at risk of metastasis - a recurrence of the cancer. In recent years, researchers at Lund University, Sweden, have developed a technique that can identify in advance which patients belong to this risk group.

22 Feb 2011

Experimental vaccine appears to protect against pneumonia

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed an experimental vaccine that appears to protect against an increasingly common and particularly deadly form of pneumococcal pneumonia. Details of the new vaccine, which was tested in an animal model, are reported in a paper published today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

22 Feb 2011

Bangladesh cholera vaccine trial

Bangladesh will conduct the world’s largest clinical trial of an affordable cholera vaccine which could save tens of thousands of lives. The study began Thursday and involves nearly 250,000 people near the capital, Dhaka.

20 Feb 2011

Phase I/II safety, efficacy data for Bellicum's BPX-101 presented at 2011 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of Phase I/II safety and efficacy data for BPX-101, a novel drug-activated dendritic cell vaccine for metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), in three separate posters at the 2011 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium held in Orlando, Florida on February 17 – 19, 2011.

19 Feb 2011

Nasal spray vs. injection -- what would you prefer?

Adelaide researchers have taken a step closer to the development of a universal flu vaccine, with results of a recent study showing that a vaccine delivered by a simple nasal spray could provide protection against influenza.

19 Feb 2011

EMA grants Prima BioMed Scientific Advice for CVac ovarian cancer vaccine Phase III trial

Australian health care company Prima BioMed Ltd announced today that there has been an agreement for strategy and design of the Phase III clinical registration trial for the CVac™ immunotherapy therapeutic ovarian cancer vaccine.

19 Feb 2011

Doctor explores link between lack of oxygen and inflammation in patients undergoing surgery

When the body is deprived of oxygen during a major surgery, the kidneys, heart muscles or lungs can be injured as a result. The problem is that lack of oxygen can lead to inflammation.

19 Feb 2011

Merck Canada announces $6.8 million investment in AmorChem for biopharmaceutical research

Merck Canada announced today a $6.8 million investment in AmorChem, a Quebec life sciences venture capital fund. This is the latest investment made by Merck following a commitment made in 2010 to invest an incremental $100 million over five years in biopharmaceutical research and development in Quebec.

19 Feb 2011

New study: Asthma may have relationship with airway microbiota composition

Asthma may have a surprising relationship with the composition of the species of bacteria that inhabit bronchial airways, a finding that could suggest new treatment or even potential cures for the common inflammatory disease, according to a new UCSF-led study.

18 Feb 2011

Astellas' Protopic receives Health Canada approval for prevention of eczema flares

Astellas Pharma Canada, Inc. has announced that it has received approval from Health Canada for a new indication for its topical eczema therapy, Protopic® (tacrolimus ointment 0.03% and 0.1%). The new indication means that tacrolimus ointment can be prescribed for maintenance therapy to prevent flares and prolong flare free intervals in patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (commonly called eczema).

17 Feb 2011

Researchers develop new pneumococcal vaccine through novel discovery approach

Pneumococcus accounts for as much as 11 percent of mortality in young children worldwide. While successful vaccines like Prevnar exist, they are expensive and only work against specific pneumococcal strains, with the risk of becoming less effective as new strains emerge.

17 Feb 2011

Spirulina Pacifica supplement may improve immune function, anemia in senior citizens

Cyanotech Corporation, world leader in microalgae-based health and nutrition supplements, announced today that researchers at the University of California at Davis have determined that microalgae-based Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica may improve immune function and ameliorate anemia in persons over 50.

17 Feb 2011

Clinical trial finds atorvastatin may inhibit HIV progression, help in infection's management

A recent multicenter clinical trial of atorvastatin, a type of cholesterol-lowering drug, found that although the drug did not inhibit plasma HIV RNA levels, it did inhibit expression of cellular markers of immune activation and inflammation in patients with HIV infection.

17 Feb 2011

Astellas, AVEO enter development, commercialization agreement for tivozanib

Astellas Pharma Inc., a global pharmaceutical company, and AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that they have entered into a worldwide agreement outside of Asia to develop and commercialize tivozanib, AVEO's lead product candidate designed to optimally block the VEGF pathway by inhibiting all three VEGF receptors, for the treatment of a broad range of cancers.

17 Feb 2011

New fully human monoclonal antibodies to battle Chikungunya

The Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), an institute of the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and VIVALIS, a French biopharmaceutical company, announced today the discovery of two new fully human monoclonal antibodies which could battle Chikungunya, a disease that currently has no available vaccine or specific treatment.

16 Feb 2011

Flu vaccine update

This new vaccine which could become available in the United States in the next few years, is made by growing the influenza virus in cultures of animal cells rather than in the chicken eggs that have been used for more than five decades. This shortens the process by six months. Using animal cells, which are grown in enclosed steel tanks, also reduces the risk of bacterial contamination, which has led to shortages of seasonal vaccines in some years. The study was reported in The Lancet this Tuesday.

16 Feb 2011

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia establishes Jeffrey Modell Endowed Chair in Pediatric Immunology Research

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia today announced the establishment of the Jeffrey Modell Endowed Chair in Pediatric Immunology Research.

16 Feb 2011

NGDI-UBC, CDRD partner for drug development platform to treat neglected global diseases

The Centre for Drug Research and Development and the Neglected Global Diseases Initiative at the University of British Columbia today announced that they will collaborate on developing interventions for neglected global diseases and ensuring their delivery to those in need.

16 Feb 2011

New review of anthrax case discussed by review committee vice chair, Stanford bioterrorism expert

In 2001, a mystery perpetrator mailed a series of anthrax-laced letters to several locations, killing five people. In 2008, shortly after emerging as the prime suspect in an exhaustive investigation by the FBI, an Army microbiologist, Bruce Ivins, PhD, committed suicide. This morning, a National Academy of Sciences committee, charged in September 2008 with reviewing the scientific approaches used by the FBI in that investigation, released its report.

15 Feb 2011

Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Novartis FLUAD seasonal flu vaccine for older adults receives Health Canada approval

New technique allows early identification of metastasis in women with breast cancer

Experimental vaccine appears to protect against pneumonia

Bangladesh cholera vaccine trial

Phase I/II safety, efficacy data for Bellicum's BPX-101 presented at 2011 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium

Nasal spray vs. injection -- what would you prefer?

EMA grants Prima BioMed Scientific Advice for CVac ovarian cancer vaccine Phase III trial

Doctor explores link between lack of oxygen and inflammation in patients undergoing surgery

Merck Canada announces $6.8 million investment in AmorChem for biopharmaceutical research

New study: Asthma may have relationship with airway microbiota composition

Astellas' Protopic receives Health Canada approval for prevention of eczema flares

Researchers develop new pneumococcal vaccine through novel discovery approach

Spirulina Pacifica supplement may improve immune function, anemia in senior citizens

Clinical trial finds atorvastatin may inhibit HIV progression, help in infection's management

Astellas, AVEO enter development, commercialization agreement for tivozanib

New fully human monoclonal antibodies to battle Chikungunya

Flu vaccine update

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia establishes Jeffrey Modell Endowed Chair in Pediatric Immunology Research

NGDI-UBC, CDRD partner for drug development platform to treat neglected global diseases

New review of anthrax case discussed by review committee vice chair, Stanford bioterrorism expert

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