Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Abstracts on Merck Serono oncology treatments to be presented at ECCO and ESMO

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, continues to drive the global effort to ensure patients receive personalized cancer therapies. A total of 17 abstracts concerning Merck Serono oncology treatments will be presented at the joint 15th Congress of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) and 34th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), to be held in Berlin from 20-24 September 2009.

11 Sep 2009

Drug manufacturers are seeking out needle-free systems

Many of the novel biopharmaceutical drugs developed now can only be delivered by injection, and this has biologic manufacturers seeking out the most patient-friendly options, including needle-free systems.

11 Sep 2009

Doctor examines the link between Guillain-Barr- syndrome and H1N1 vaccination

A doctor who developed Guillain-Barr- syndrome will consider having the swine flu jab when she returns to work this autumn, despite claims that the vaccine is linked to an increased risk of the disease. Laura Claire Price, a specialist in respiratory and intensive care medicine, examines the reasons why the vaccine might cause the syndrome, reviews the current evidence, and concludes that she will consider having the jab when it becomes available.

11 Sep 2009

Adamis Pharmaceuticals' Epinephrine injection categorized as a generic

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced on July 23 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Adamis Labs launched and shipped the first orders of the company’s Epinephrine Injection, USP, 1:1000 (0.3mg prefilled single dose syringe) (“PFS”). Today, Adamis Labs reports that at least two major data base reference companies (Medi-Span® and First DataBank) placed the Company’s PFS in their generic category.

11 Sep 2009

New World Health Organization data emphasizes on two leading causes of pneumonia

New World Health Organization data to be published in this week's edition of The Lancet will shed new light on two leading causes of pneumonia, the world’s leading killer of children under age 5, both globally and within specific countries.

11 Sep 2009

Under-five mortality rate continues to decline

UNICEF today released new figures that show the rate of deaths of children under five years of age continued to decline in 2008.

11 Sep 2009

UNICEF data shows global child mortality now below 9m, progress not enough to achieve MDG in most regions

The annual number of deaths among children younger than five worldwide "has fallen below nine million" compared with 12.5 million in 1990, according to new data from UNICEF, the New York Times reports. "That's 10,000 less children dying per day," Ann Veneman, UNICEF's executive director, said.

10 Sep 2009

Improving childhood immunization campaigns could reduce sickle-cell deaths in Africa, Study finds

By offering all children in Africa vaccines that protect against bacterial infections, researchers say the number of deaths among children living with sickle-cell anemia could be reduced, Reuters reports. An estimated 200,000 children in Africa annually are born with sickle-cell anemia, a genetic disease "in which red blood cells deform into a sickle shape and cluster, blocking blood flow and causing pain, vulnerability to infections and organ damage."

10 Sep 2009

Analysis: Marketing research sheds light low vaccination rates in some developing countries

Despite progress in raising the vaccination rates in the world's poorest countries, some countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Nigeria continue to have vaccination rates "below 50% in certain regions, compared with the 80% or more needed to achieve a low risk of the disease spreading," Douglas Holt, Oxford University professor of marketing, and Jacob McKnight, also of Oxford University, write in a Livemint.com analysis piece.

10 Sep 2009

NIH provides Inviragen second major grant to develop a dengue vaccine

Inviragen has received a $600,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to partially support its continued efforts to develop a safe and effective dengue vaccine. The two-year grant will fund a collaborative effort led by Inviragen and involving scientists at the University of Wisconsin and Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The supported work will include additional optimization of Inviragen’s vaccine to generate more potent immune responses.

10 Sep 2009

U.S. public health officials recommend early flu vaccination

With increased influenza activity anticipated this fall, U.S. public health officials and other leading medical experts today urged Americans to be vigilant and get immunized early for protection against seasonal influenza - a threat to Americans' health each and every year.

10 Sep 2009

FDA removes clinical hold on HEPLISAV hepatitis B vaccine

Dynavax Technologies Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed the clinical hold for the HEPLISAVTM Investigational New Drug (IND) application in individuals with chronic kidney disease.

10 Sep 2009

IBM study reveals the need for smart drug manufacturer supply chain systems

Reducing the risk of counterfeit drugs and contaminated medications amidst the complexity of global manufacturing are among the top concerns of the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries today, according to a new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study. More than 50 percent of executives polled say their companies fail to respond quickly enough to pandemics and other emergencies because of lapses in their supply chain.

10 Sep 2009

TPC seeks President Obama's support for private and community foundations in the field of health

As the nation awaits President Obama's address on health care reform to a joint session of Congress, The Philanthropic Collaborative (TPC) sent today a letter to the President seeking his support for the efforts of private and community foundations in the field of health.

10 Sep 2009

Special issue of Optometry & Vision Development explores autism

Autism. What is its cause? How does it affect brain anatomy, electrophysiology, visual function and perception? What must we do to meet the needs of these patients? How can optometrists as health care providers be in the vanguard for screening for this spectrum of disorders?

10 Sep 2009

'How Much Longer' campaign for promoting autism awareness

The National Autism Association (NAA) declared today as National "How Much Longer" Day for Autism, a day of letter-writing to the media, health agencies, Department of Education, lawmakers and the Obama Administration asking for such things as health insurance coverage, federal laws to protect special-ed students from dangerous restraint and seclusion practices in schools, safer vaccines, and for autism to be declared a nation health crisis.

10 Sep 2009

Polio vaccination resumes in Pakistan's Swat Valley

"Authorities in Pakistan's Swat Valley have resumed vaccinating children for polio, an act once banned by Taliban militants, now beaten back by an army offensive," the Associated Press reports. The three-day campaign, which started on Monday, is targeting about 215,000 children, said government official Khurshid Khan.

10 Sep 2009

WHO's Chan says swine flu will 'test' world on 'fairness'

Addressing a meeting of South East Asian health ministers Tuesday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic will "test the world on the issue of fairness" and "reveal in a measurable and tragic way the consequences of decades of failure to invest adequately in basic health systems and infrastructure,"

10 Sep 2009

New Influenza A/H1N1 detection kit launched

QIAGEN, today announced both the launch of a new Influenza A/H1N1 test and several updates to its activities in providing solutions for the global surveillance of the swine flu pandemic. QIAGEN’s new kit enables both the highly sensitive and specific detection of the novel Influenza A/H1N1, the virus that causes “swine flu”, as well as of all other known Influenza A and B virus strains.

10 Sep 2009

Roche Group and ImmunoCellular Therapeutics sign research agreement regarding ICT-69 antibody

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (OTCBB: IMUC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing immune based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers, announced today that it has entered into a research and license option agreement regarding its ICT-69 antibody with Roche Group (SWX: ROG.VX; RO.S, OTCQX: RHHBY), one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

10 Sep 2009