Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Opinion: Uganda anti-gay bill; Shah confirmation

Columnist Michael Gerson in a Washington Post opinion piece writes of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 being considered by the country's parliament "that would impose new and harsher penalties on homosexuality, including life imprisonment and capital punishment. It also would force pastors and others to report homosexuals to the authorities.

18 Dec 2009

U.S. health officials announce shift in focus of prep trial in Botswana

U.S. health officials on Thursday announced they will shift the focus of a clinical trial in Botswana aimed at testing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) - the strategy that "a daily low dose of the drugs, which interfere with the ability of the virus to replicate, could also lower the risk of infection" - after researchers discovered they would be unable to determine the efficacy of Truvada, the medicine used in the trial, Reuters reports.

18 Dec 2009

Flamel Technologies initiates IFN-alpha-2b XL Phase 2a clinical trial for HCV

Flamel Technologies today announced the initiation of a Phase 2a clinical trial of Flamel’s Interferon alpha-2b XL (IFN-alpha-2b XL), which is based on Flamel’s Medusa® platform for controlled release of biologics. IFN-alpha-2b XL is being developed as a controlled release of unmodified interferon alpha-2b for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

18 Dec 2009

Safe living guidelines for transplant recipients

Keeping pets healthy can reduce infection risks for people who have received solid organ transplants and veterinarians should be seen as an integral part of the healthcare team. That's just one of the key pieces of advice from a safe living article published in an infectious diseases supplement in the American Journal of Transplantation.

18 Dec 2009

Human protein may help prevent H1N1 infection

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a naturally occurring human protein that helps prevent infection by H1N1 influenza and other viruses, including West Nile and dengue virus.

18 Dec 2009

Flu-fighting proteins found in human cells stop flu virus, uncover scientists

In findings that may lead to better ways to prevent and treat influenza and other viral infections, researchers report the discovery of a family of naturally occurring antiviral agents in human cells.

18 Dec 2009

Comprehensive approaches to understand the interaction of H1N1 strains with human cells

Scientists have generated hundreds of new leads in the fight against the H1N1 flu pandemic, according to two new studies published online December 17th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.

18 Dec 2009

Duane Reade offers H1N1 immunization vaccines for New York residents

Duane Reade, the largest drug store chain in New York City, today announced plans for its H1N1 immunization program as part of the Company's commitment to meet the health and wellness needs of New Yorkers and to be a destination for their flu related needs.

18 Dec 2009

La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology awarded $18.8M NIH grant for infectious diseases study

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will take aim at several of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases - tuberculosis, malaria and dengue virus -- in a five-year, $18.8 million federally-funded set of projects seeking to make new inroads toward vaccines against the disorders.

17 Dec 2009

PEPFAR decisions to be grounded in scientific evidence, Goosby says

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby "said future programmes to prevent HIV infection would be those supported by the best scientific evidence," reports the Financial Times. Goosby told the Financial Times in an interview: "I will always wrap myself in the science as the justification of decision-making. I will not factor in an ideological rationale."

17 Dec 2009

EPA approves BASF's Aseptrol S10 - Tab for H1N1 sanitization operations

BASF today announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of Aseptrol® S10 - Tab in H1N1 sanitization operations in institutional and industrial facilities, such as, schools, hospitals, government buildings, retail and restaurants, and recreational facilities. Aseptrol S10 - Tab is based on Chlorine dioxide (CIO2) release technology.

17 Dec 2009

AlphaRx, Venturepharm sign supply agreement for ARX1088's API

AlphaRx Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement that provides long-term supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for ARX1088, an orally active interferon inducer intended for the adjunctive treatment of Hepatitis in China and other emerging markets. Under the agreement, Venturepharm will be the primary supplier of AlphaRx's worldwide requirements for the compound.

17 Dec 2009

Anadys Pharmaceuticals reports positive 4-week results from its ANA598 Phase II study for HCV

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced preliminary results from a planned interim analysis of data at four weeks for the first dose cohort, 200 mg bid, in an ongoing Phase II study of ANA598 in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (SOC) in HCV patients.

17 Dec 2009

Tips for healthy living for the year ahead

Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, carnivore or pescetarian, vegetables should be a central part of your diet. Often referred to as a "protective food," dark green foods provide essential vitamins and nutrients to your body that protect you from many of life's worst diseases.

17 Dec 2009

Risk of H1N1 exposure alters U.S. holiday plans

Forty percent of U.S. adults intend to change their holiday plans due to the risk of being exposed to the H1N1 flu virus, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by JohnsonDiversey, a global leader in the commercial cleaning and sanitizing industry.

17 Dec 2009

New study shows how stem cell activity can contribute to cancer

In a developing animal, stem cells proliferate and differentiate to form the organs needed for life. A new study shows how a crucial step in this process happens and how a reversal of that step contributes to cancer.

17 Dec 2009

Diagnostic Nano Technology to use Instant Detect Technology to detect H1N1 virus

Diagnostic Nano Technology Corporation (DNA), a subsidiary of Avisio, Inc., announced today that with the early laboratory success of its Instant Detect Technology in the detection of certain viruses that cause Dengue Fever, it plans to begin testing the technology on the detection of the H1N1 virus.

17 Dec 2009

Infection control program protects immunocompromised cancer patients from H1N1 infection

Despite a 100-fold increase in H1N1 influenza cases in the Seattle area during spring 2009, an aggressive infection control program to protect immunocompromised cancer patients and thorough screening measures resulted in no corresponding increase in H1N1 cases among the total patient population at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, according to a new study by researchers and physicians at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the SCCA.

17 Dec 2009

GSK and NanoBio sign license agreement for nanoemulsion technology

GlaxoSmithKline and Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corporation announced today that they have signed an exclusive over-the-counter licensing agreement for NanoBio's unique nanoemulsion treatment for cold sores in the United States and Canada.

17 Dec 2009

Scientists draw on bacterial decision-making success to guide human choices on H1N1 vaccine

Bacteria inhabited our planet for more than 4 billion years before humans showed up, and they'll probably outlive us by as many eons more. That suggests they may have something to teach us.

17 Dec 2009