Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Experts raise awareness about the importance of flu vaccine

The last flu season arrived four weeks early, was more intense than expected and resulted in the deaths of more than 110 children in the United States. In an effort to get ahead of the upcoming flu season, experts at Montefiore Medical Center are raising awareness about the importance of the flu vaccine, which remains the best option to reduce a person's risk of contracting the virus. The flu season can start as early as late September and usually runs for about 12 to 15 weeks.

14 Jun 2013

First Edition: June 13, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how employers are preparing for some parts of the health law to kick in.

13 Jun 2013

Investigational all-oral interferon-free combination from Boehringer Ingelheim achieves 95% viral cure rates in genotype-1b hepatitis C patients

New data from Boehringer Ingelheim’s interferon-free SOUND-C3 study were presented during the APASL Liver Week in Singapore. The Phase IIb study investigated the efficacy and safety of faldaprevir+ and deleobuvir+ (BI 207127) plus ribavirin in treatment-naïve patients with genotype-1b (GT-1b) hepatitis C virus (HCV),1 one of the most common types of HCV globally.2

13 Jun 2013

Effective method to restore sight to patients with blinding diseases

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an easier and more effective method for inserting genes into eye cells that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases ranging from inherited defects like retinitis pigmentosa to degenerative illnesses of old age, such as macular degeneration

13 Jun 2013

Loyola University surgeon uses electrical stimulation as part of surgical technique to treat Bell's palsy

A Loyola University Medical Center surgeon is using electrical stimulation as part of an advanced surgical technique to treat Bell's palsy. Bell's palsy is a condition that causes paralysis on one side of a patient's face.

12 Jun 2013

Johns Hopkins researchers develop experimental vaccine for TB meningitis

A team of Johns Hopkins researchers working with animals has developed a vaccine that prevents the virulent TB bacterium from invading the brain and causing the highly lethal condition TB meningitis, a disease that disproportionately occurs in TB-infected children and in adults with compromised immune system.

12 Jun 2013

Study shows iron-uptake receptor plays a role in HCV infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects more than 170 million people worldwide. Approximately 80 percent of infections lead to chronic illness including fibrosis, cirrhosis, cancer and also hepatic iron overload.

11 Jun 2013

Medicago gets Health Canada clearance to initiate Phase II clinical trial for H5N1 vaccine

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced it has received clearance by Health Canada to initiate its Phase II dose-sparing clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H5N1 vaccine").

11 Jun 2013

Study explores various strategies, suggests cost-effective options for HIV testing in India

In India most people who are HIV positive don't know it, yet testing and treatment are relatively cheap and available. It would therefore meet international standards of cost-effectiveness - and save millions of lives for decades - to test every person in the billion-plus population every five years according to a new study published in the journal PLoS One.

11 Jun 2013

Mandatory influenza vaccination does not lead to excessive voluntary termination

Mandatory influenza (flu) vaccination, as a condition of employment, did not lead to excessive voluntary termination, according to a four-year analysis of vaccination rates at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL.

10 Jun 2013

BioLineRx signs out-licensing agreement with CTTQ to develop, commercialize Hepatitis C drug

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has signed an out-licensing agreement with Jiangsu Chia-tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., the leading Chinese pharmaceutical company in the liver disease therapeutic area, for the development and commercialization of BL-8030, an orally available treatment for the Hepatitis C virus.

10 Jun 2013

NanoViricides files Orphan Drug application with FDA for DengueCide

NanoViricides, Inc. announced today that it has filed an Orphan Drug application with the Office of Orphan Product Development of the US FDA for DengueCide, its drug candidate for the treatment of dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever.

10 Jun 2013

Faldaprevir+ achieves viral cure in 88% of treatment-naïve genotype-1 hepatitis C patients in Asia

New findings presented today during the APASL Liver Week in Singapore, highlighted the efficacy and safety of faldaprevir+ plus pegylated interferon and ribavirin (PegIFN/RBV) in treatment-naïve patients with genotype-1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Asia.1 This post-hoc sub-analysis of the Phase III STARTVerso™1 and 2 trials showed that both doses of faldaprevir were associated with high viral cure rates and a shorter treatment duration in this particular patient group.1

10 Jun 2013

Liver regeneration using cell therapy may be possible, study suggests

Liver transplantation is the mainstay of treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease, the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, but new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, published in the online journal Cell Stem Cell today, suggests that it may one day become possible to regenerate a liver using cell therapy in patients with liver disease.

10 Jun 2013

Viewpoints: 'Reasonable' debate about health law's 'rate shock; 'absurdity' of Sebelius' account of fund raising; Obama killed the grand bargain

Many of us have been wondering whether it's possible to have an honest, reasonable debate about Obamacare. To my pleasant surprise, one may finally be starting.

7 Jun 2013

Researchers mobilize brain's native stem cells to replenish neuron lost in Huntington's disease

Researchers have been able to mobilize the brain's native stem cells to replenish a type of neuron lost in Huntington's disease.

7 Jun 2013

Cow antibodies points to new ways for making human medicines

Humans have been raising cows for their meat, hides and milk for millennia. Now it appears that the cow immune system also has something to offer. A new study led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) focusing on an extraordinary family of cow antibodies points to new ways to make human medicines.

7 Jun 2013

HSV-1 exploits immune system receptor to boost infectivity and cause disease

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues report that the herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1), which affects an estimated 50 to 80 percent of all American adults, exploits an immune system receptor to boost its infectivity and ability to cause disease.

7 Jun 2013

New comprehensive effort to model how humans respond to viral pathogens

In an effort to sort out why some viruses such as influenza, Ebola and West Nile are so lethal, a team of U.S. researchers plans a comprehensive effort to model how humans respond to these viral pathogens.

7 Jun 2013

Low levels of vitamin D associated with high levels of hepatitis B virus replication

Researchers from Germany have found that low levels of vitamin D are associated with high levels of hepatitis B virus replication. Findings published online in Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, suggest seasonal fluctuations in vitamin D and HBV levels point to a link in these variables among patients with chronic HBV.

6 Jun 2013

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Experts raise awareness about the importance of flu vaccine

First Edition: June 13, 2013

Investigational all-oral interferon-free combination from Boehringer Ingelheim achieves 95% viral cure rates in genotype-1b hepatitis C patients

Effective method to restore sight to patients with blinding diseases

Loyola University surgeon uses electrical stimulation as part of surgical technique to treat Bell's palsy

Johns Hopkins researchers develop experimental vaccine for TB meningitis

Study shows iron-uptake receptor plays a role in HCV infection

Medicago gets Health Canada clearance to initiate Phase II clinical trial for H5N1 vaccine

Study explores various strategies, suggests cost-effective options for HIV testing in India

Mandatory influenza vaccination does not lead to excessive voluntary termination

BioLineRx signs out-licensing agreement with CTTQ to develop, commercialize Hepatitis C drug

NanoViricides files Orphan Drug application with FDA for DengueCide

Faldaprevir+ achieves viral cure in 88% of treatment-naïve genotype-1 hepatitis C patients in Asia

Liver regeneration using cell therapy may be possible, study suggests

Viewpoints: 'Reasonable' debate about health law's 'rate shock; 'absurdity' of Sebelius' account of fund raising; Obama killed the grand bargain

Researchers mobilize brain's native stem cells to replenish neuron lost in Huntington's disease

Cow antibodies points to new ways for making human medicines

HSV-1 exploits immune system receptor to boost infectivity and cause disease

New comprehensive effort to model how humans respond to viral pathogens

Low levels of vitamin D associated with high levels of hepatitis B virus replication

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production