Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Biovest announces interim blinded data of fast-tracked pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of BiovaxID

Biovest International announced on June 27, 2007 blinded interim data from the start of its fast-tracked pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of BiovaxID for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) from September 2000 through June 2006.

29 Jun 2007

Meningococcal vaccine now recommended for ages 11 to 18

Recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), that all young people aged 11 to 18 should get a shot that protects them from the most dangerous type of meningitis, has been applauded by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

28 Jun 2007

Trial shows CERVARIX cervical cancer candidate vaccine effective

Results from an interim analysis of a Phase III study show that CERVARIX, the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) cervical cancer candidate vaccine, provides up to 100 percent protection against advanced precancerous lesions caused by the most common types of human papillomavirus, types 16 and 18.

28 Jun 2007

Hib vaccine could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia

A new study from Bangladesh published online in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal shows that routinely vaccinating infants against H. influenzae type b (Hib), a bacterium that causes deadly Hib pneumonia and meningitis, could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia.

28 Jun 2007

FDA fast tracks ViroPharma's treatment of hepatitis C

ViroPharma has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation for HCV-796 for treatment of hepatitis C virus infection.

28 Jun 2007

Tularemia-specific antibodies protect mice from developing respiratory tularemia

The respiratory form of tularemia, a potentially serious bacterial disease, is a significant public health concern because it is highly infectious, it has a high mortality rate if untreated, and it could be introduced into a population in an intentional act of bioterror.

28 Jun 2007

Canada enhances capacity to fight infectious disease

Today representatives of all three levels of government and the Canada Foundation for Innovation turned the sod to launch construction of the International Vaccine Centre (InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan, a $110.4-million project that will significantly enhance Canada's capacity to fight infectious disease in both animals and humans.

26 Jun 2007

WHO ready to tackle drug resistant TB

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) some forms of tuberculosis (TB) are a threat to the security and stability of global health.

25 Jun 2007

Bird flu and summer come together in Bavaria

Health officials in Germany say the deadly H5N1 virus has reappeared in the country.

25 Jun 2007

Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

Mushrooms show promise for creation of new drugs

Mushrooms might serve as biofactories for the production of various beneficial human drugs, according to plant pathologists who have inserted new genes into mushrooms.

23 Jun 2007

Extra vitamin A does not help mothers and children in developing countries

Giving mothers and children in developing countries twice the WHO recommended doses of vitamin A, as suggested by an international vitamin group, does not have a beneficial effect.

23 Jun 2007

New therapeutic vaccines help kick drug habits

A pair of new vaccines designed to combat cocaine and methamphetamine dependencies not only relieve addiction but also minimize withdrawal symptoms, according to study results presented by Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) researchers at the Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in Quebec City, Canada.

23 Jun 2007

New hope for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have provided new details about how proteins used to destroy bacteria and viruses may help treat Alzheimer?s disease.

23 Jun 2007

Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

First genome-scale model of microbe that causes tuberculosis

Tuberculosis remains one of the biggest killers in the world today being responsible for nearly ten million cases and one and a half million deaths each year.

23 Jun 2007

Requiring HPV vaccination for school-age girls for upcoming school year 'too soon,' researcher says

It is premature to require middle-school age girls to receive Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil for the upcoming school year, Doug Lowy -- head of the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Cellular Oncology and one of the scientists responsible for the development of the vaccine -- said on Wednesday, CQ HealthBeat reports (Bartolf, CQ HealthBeat, 6/20).

22 Jun 2007

New plan to contain extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB)

Hundreds of thousands of cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) can be prevented and as many as 134 000 lives saved through the implementation of a two-year response plan, published/launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership.

22 Jun 2007

PepTcell vaccine could provide immunity against all strains of influenza virus

Previously undisclosed pre-clinical data showing how a new flu vaccine has the potential to protect against all strains of influenza, including pandemic and annual, was presented by PepTcell, at the 2007 Options for the Control of Influenza VI (Options) Conference, in Toronto, Canada.

20 Jun 2007