Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

XMRV infection is not linked to chronic fatigue syndrome

Researchers investigating UK samples have found no association between the controversial xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

17 Feb 2010

ITS secures £8.65M Series-A equity funding round extension to fund synthetic flu vaccine study

Immune Targeting Systems (ITS) Limited (“ITS”), one of the leading developers of synthetic vaccines for mutating viruses, today announced it had secured a Series-A equity funding round extension for £8.65m which brings the total Series A financing to £13.15m. The company’s key investors HealthCap (Sweden), London Technology Fund (UK), Novartis Venture Fund (US & Basel) and Truffle Capital (France) are all participating. The round will be kept open until mid-2010 for new potential investors to invest.

17 Feb 2010

Iowa State University researchers awarded 30 ARRA grants worth $16.38M

Iowa State University researchers have so far won 30 grants worth a total $16.38 million from federal agencies awarding money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

17 Feb 2010

NanoViricides signs research and development agreement with Dr. Eva Harris’s laboratory at UC Berkeley

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company"), reports that it has signed a research and development agreement with Dr. Eva Harris’s laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

17 Feb 2010

New program launched for HIV-positive men

The nation's largest surrogacy agency announced today that the number of babies born to HIV-positive clients is expected to more than double in 2010 as its program for HIV-positive men using their own sperm to create embryos continues to expand in the U.S. and abroad.

16 Feb 2010

Merck announces global sales of $27.4 billion for full-year 2009

Merck & Co., Inc. today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2009 which include the results of legacy Schering-Plough operations from the close of the merger on Nov. 3, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009.

16 Feb 2010

Study: sdNVP can lead to HIV treatment failure in women receiving drug to prevent infant infection

A new international study reported in PLoS Medicine confirms that a single dose of nevirapine (sdNVP) can lead to HIV treatment failure in women who receive the drug to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus to their infants. However, the increased risk of failure could only be detected in women who began full HIV treatment within about a year after receiving sdNVP.

16 Feb 2010

CNRS-Institut researchers identify 'virulence factor' that inhibits host immune response

Oncogenic retroviruses are a particular family of viruses that can cause some types of cancer. Thierry Heidmann and his colleagues in the CNRS-Institut Gustave Roussy-Université Paris Sud 11 "Rétrovirus endogènes et éléments rétroïdes des eucaryotes supérieurs" Laboratory have studied these viruses. They have identified a "virulence factor" that inhibits the host immune response and allows the virus to spread throughout the body.

16 Feb 2010

Medivir, Meda announce agreement to commercialize Medivir’s cold sore product, Xerese

Medivir and Meda today announced an agreement for the commercialization of Medivir’s cold sore product which will be marketed in North America under the trade name Xerese™.

15 Feb 2010

WHO will meet to decide if H1N1 has peaked

The WHO will convene a meeting of its emergency committee later this month to assess whether H1N1 (swine flu) has peaked, Keiji Fukuda, the special adviser to the WHO's director general for pandemic influenza, said Thursday, Bloomberg reports.

15 Feb 2010

Rate of seasonal flu vaccination doubles national average at Johns Hopkins East Baltimore medical campus

A campaign that makes seasonal flu vaccinations for hospital staff free, convenient, ubiquitous and hard to ignore succeeds fairly well in moving care providers closer to a state of "herd" immunity and protecting patients from possible infection transmitted by health care workers, according to results of a survey at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

12 Feb 2010

Viral Genetics: Company update

Our mission is to bring new drug compounds to the marketplace. And we've never been in a stronger position to deliver on that promise. We've built the solid foundation needed to take drug therapies from the laboratory to the marketplace. After years in development, we believe several of our most promising compounds are moving closer to clinical trials.

12 Feb 2010

HIV transmission among male partners: CFAR scientists discover origin of strains

A team of scientists, led by a virologist from the University of California, San Diego's Center for AID Research (CFAR), has discovered the origin of strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among men who have sex with men. The study, which may be important in developing prevention strategies for HIV, will appear in Science Translational Medicine on February 10, 2010.

12 Feb 2010

Also in Global Health News: China's health care system; Breastfeeding practices in Pakistan; HIV transmission in MSM; Abu Dhabi joins malaria fight

The Los Angeles Times examines China's transition to "Western-style privatized medicine" through the government's "$124-billion overhaul, chiefly to improve service in rural areas." The article details the efforts of a woman from Inner Mongolia to get care in Beijing for her ailing father and looks at climbing health care costs and the growing "black market for medical care" (Pierson, 2/11).

12 Feb 2010

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

A leading immunology research institute has validated the long-held and controversial hypothesis that antibodies - usually the "good guys" in the body's fight against viruses - instead contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology announced today. The finding has major implications for the development of a first-ever vaccine against dengue virus, a growing public health threat which annually infects 50 to 100 million people worldwide, causing a half million cases of the severest form.

12 Feb 2010

Study: Hospitalizations for H1N1 differ from hospitalizations associated with typical flu

When compared to a typical flu, the H1N1 virus resulted in a higher proportion of patients requiring specialized hospital services - and affected younger people more - according to a new study released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

12 Feb 2010

New screening system developed to discover molecules that block HCV life cycle

A newly designed system of identifying molecules for treating hepatitis C should enable scientists to discover novel and effective therapies for the dangerous and difficult-to-cure disease of the liver, says Zhilei Chen, a Texas A&M University assistant professor of chemical engineering who helped develop the screening system.

12 Feb 2010

Emory-UGA IPIRC to host symposium on H1N1 virus

The Emory - University of Georgia Influenza Pathogenesis and Immunology Research Center will host a symposium April 18 - 20 at the Emory Conference Center featuring an international roster of speakers.

11 Feb 2010

Principio, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center sign technology licensing agreement

Principio Inc., a privately held emerging company developing novel molecular imaging agents and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, today announced that the Company has obtained an exclusive license to several technologies developed at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.

11 Feb 2010

CINJ researchers develop new vaccine strategy for pancreatic cancer

More than 42,500 people in the United States were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and nearly 35,200 died from the disease, according to The American Cancer Society.

11 Feb 2010

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

XMRV infection is not linked to chronic fatigue syndrome

ITS secures £8.65M Series-A equity funding round extension to fund synthetic flu vaccine study

Iowa State University researchers awarded 30 ARRA grants worth $16.38M

NanoViricides signs research and development agreement with Dr. Eva Harris’s laboratory at UC Berkeley

New program launched for HIV-positive men

Merck announces global sales of $27.4 billion for full-year 2009

Study: sdNVP can lead to HIV treatment failure in women receiving drug to prevent infant infection

CNRS-Institut researchers identify 'virulence factor' that inhibits host immune response

Medivir, Meda announce agreement to commercialize Medivir’s cold sore product, Xerese

WHO will meet to decide if H1N1 has peaked

Rate of seasonal flu vaccination doubles national average at Johns Hopkins East Baltimore medical campus

Viral Genetics: Company update

HIV transmission among male partners: CFAR scientists discover origin of strains

Also in Global Health News: China's health care system; Breastfeeding practices in Pakistan; HIV transmission in MSM; Abu Dhabi joins malaria fight

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

Study: Hospitalizations for H1N1 differ from hospitalizations associated with typical flu

New screening system developed to discover molecules that block HCV life cycle

Emory-UGA IPIRC to host symposium on H1N1 virus

Principio, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center sign technology licensing agreement

CINJ researchers develop new vaccine strategy for pancreatic cancer

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