Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

European regulator concludes that evidence does not support a causal relationship between human papillomavirus vaccines and CRPS or POTS

The European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has completed a detailed scientific review of the evidence surrounding reports of two syndromes, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in young women given human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.

10 Nov 2015

New funding for Centenary's life saving research

The Centenary Institute has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of funding for 9 new and innovative medical research projects via the latest round of NHMRC grant rounds funding, officially confirmed today.

9 Nov 2015

WHO praises Sierra Leone for stopping Ebola transmission

The World Health Organization declares that Ebola virus transmission has been stopped in Sierra Leone. Forty-two days, that is two Ebola virus incubation cycles, have now passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease had a second negative blood test.

9 Nov 2015

Nightstar announces $35 million Series B financing round

NightstaRx Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company specialising in developing gene therapies for inherited retinal dystrophies, announces a $35 million Series B financing round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, one of the world's leading venture capital firms.

9 Nov 2015

Combatting viral and bacterial lung infections with volatile anesthetics: an interview with Dr Chakravarthy

Inhaled anesthetics are fairly common all over the world for minor and extensive surgical procedures in patients of all age groups. In the olden days when anesthesia was first developed, ether was the first inhaled anesthetic. That has been replaced, with the more recent discoveries of sevoflurane, isoflurane, and desflurane.

9 Nov 2015

MPP announces expansion of mandate to hepatitis C and TB medicines

The Medicines Patent Pool, the world's only voluntary licensing mechanism in public health, announced an expansion of its mandate today to hepatitis C and tuberculosis medicines. The UNITAID Executive Board, meeting November 4-5 in Geneva, approved the MPP's proposals to improve access to both life-saving direct acting antivirals (DAAs) to treat hepatitis C and new and re-purposed medicines for tuberculosis.

6 Nov 2015

Viralytics enters into clinical trial collaboration agreement with MSD

Viralytics Limited announced today that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration agreement through subsidiaries of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, U.S.A. (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) to evaluate the combination of Viralytics' investigational cancer immunotherapy CAVATAK, with MSD's KEYTRUDA, an anti-PD-1 (programmed death receptor-1) therapy.

6 Nov 2015

Researchers successfully test new method for rapid diagnosis of Ebola in Guinea

An international team of researchers, including Ahmed Abd El Wahed, scientist at the University of Göttingen and the German Primate Center, has tested a new method for rapid diagnosis of Ebola in a field trial in Guinea. The test procedure was carried out using a portable suitcase laboratory. The mobile suitcase lab is operated with solar power and enables simple on-site diagnostics in remote areas without the need of an equipped laboratory.

6 Nov 2015

UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece to be honored with 2015 David E. Rogers Award

The Association of American Medical Colleges announced today that University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, will receive the 2015 David E. Rogers Award, which honors a medical school faculty member who has made major contributions to improving the health and health care of the American people. He will be presented the Award on November 8, 2015 at the AAMC's Annual Awards Event.

6 Nov 2015

Loyola presents Scientist of the Year awards

Susan Baker, PhD, a leading researcher of a class of viruses that includes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), has been named Senior Scientist of the Year at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Wei Qiu, PhD, who is researching the molecular mechanisms of liver cancer, has been named Junior Scientist of the Year.

6 Nov 2015

Genvoya approved as complete regimen for HIV treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Genvoya (a fixed-dose combination tablet containing elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide) as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older.

6 Nov 2015

Researchers uncover important mechanism that could help protect against infection, allergy and cancer

New research has uncovered an important mechanism in the drive to understand immunological processes that protect us against infection, allergy and cancer.

5 Nov 2015

GHIT Fund invests $10.7 million to fight malaria, TB, leishmaniasis and dengue

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, which in the last two years has invested US$43 million to develop innovative tools for fighting diseases worldwide, today announced it is investing $10.7 million at multiple points in the product development pipeline to seek new interventions for malaria, tuberculosis (TB), leishmaniasis and dengue.

5 Nov 2015

New vaccine candidate shows great promise at fighting respiratory syncytial virus

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers say a new candidate vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) made with a weakened version of the virus shows great promise at fighting the disease, the leading cause of hospitalization for children under the age of one in the U.S.

5 Nov 2015

JEDI T-cells provide unique technology to study, visualize immune responses and immunotherapies

When it comes to fending off disease and helping prevent people from falling ill, the body's immune system -- armed with T-cells that help eliminate cancer cells, virus-infected cells and more -- is second to none. But exactly how the immune system works remains, in many ways, a mystery, as there are numerous cell types whose functions and interactions with our immune systems have not been well understood.

5 Nov 2015

Nucala (mepolizumab) approved for treatment of asthma patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Nucala (mepolizumab) for use with other asthma medicines for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients age 12 years and older. Nucala is approved for patients who have a history of severe asthma attacks (exacerbations) despite receiving their current asthma medicines.

5 Nov 2015

Study evaluates effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected children

A study led by Louise Kuhn, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, evaluated whether HIV-infected children in South Africa who had achieved viral suppression with one antiretroviral treatment could transition to efavirenz-based therapy, the recommended drug for children older than 3 years, without risk of viral failure.

4 Nov 2015

Johnson & Johnson signs definitive agreement to purchase Novira Therapeutics

Johnson & Johnson today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Novira Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for curative treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

4 Nov 2015

Millions more bird species killed by West Nile virus than previously thought

West Nile virus is killing millions more birds and affecting many more bird species than previously thought, according to new research from a multi-university team of researchers.

4 Nov 2015

New study finds how African immigrants stigmatized during recent Ebola crisis

The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa also took its toll socially on one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, African immigrants. Guy-Lucien Whembolua, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of Africana studies, leads an analysis of national news coverage of the Ebola scare in a poster presentation on Nov. 2, at the 143rd American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo, in Chicago.

4 Nov 2015