Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

New drug-resistant strain of bird flu appears to retain ability to cause serious disease in humans

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported that a virulent new strain of influenza - the virus that causes the flu - appears to retain its ability to cause serious disease in humans even after it develops resistance to antiviral medications. The finding was included in a study that was published today in the journal Nature Communications.

12 Dec 2013

GSK's FluLaval Quadrivalent vaccine effective in reducing flu cases in children

GlaxoSmithKline plc announced today that a peer-reviewed study issued online by the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that GSK's FluLaval® Quadrivalent reduced flu cases among children ages 3-8 by 55.4% overall and lowered the risk of developing moderate-to-serious flu illness by 73.1%.

12 Dec 2013

Scientists explore mechanisms of viruses' shells

Viruses are like small vessels containing an active component, the genetic material, that can infect a host cell. The vessel, called capsid or vector, is basically a shell that changes its shape when it penetrates a cell to infect it, and may even break into pieces.

12 Dec 2013

Emergent BioSolutions enters into definitive agreement to acquire Cangene

Emergent BioSolutions Inc.announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Cangene Corporation (TSX: CNJ) under which Emergent will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Cangene in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.24 per share on a fully diluted basis for an aggregate purchase price of $222 million.

12 Dec 2013

HCV antiviral therapy also improves diabetes outcomes

Researchers from Taiwan reveal that antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus improves kidney and cardiovascular outcomes for patients with diabetes. Results of the study published in Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, show that incidences of kidney disease, stroke, and heart attack were lower in patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin compared to HCV patients not treated with antivirals or diabetic patients not infected with the virus.

12 Dec 2013

Detectable blood viral load increases prevalence of heart disease

HIV causes structural heart disease according to research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2013 by Dr Nieves Montoro from Madrid, Spain. The findings support the introduction of cardiovascular screening in all HIV patients, particularly those with a positive blood viral load.

11 Dec 2013

New antimicrobial coating prevents infections during cold winter months

With cold and flu season now in full swing, all-natural wellness provider Neutra Corp. (OTCBB: NTRR) is working quickly to deliver a revolutionary new antimicrobial coating that could soon prove to be the best defense against infections and viruses in the most notorious hotspot for the spread of these diseases: the classroom.

11 Dec 2013

Duke University receives $2.9M grant to develop HIV vaccine candidate

Duke University has received a grant of up to $2.9 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce an HIV vaccine candidate that will be tested in humans.

10 Dec 2013

Preparing for better management of Tamiflu-resistant influenza viruses

Researchers in Umeå and Uppsala have found that residues of the influenza drug Tamiflu in our environment can make the influenza virus in birds resistant. This can have serious consequences in the event of an influenza pandemic. With more than 14 million SEK from the Swedish Research Councils Formas and VR, the research team will now continue their studies with a focus on alternative antiviral drugs.

10 Dec 2013

Alnylam presents new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3 for treatment of hemophilia and RBD

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has presented new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3, a subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic targeting antithrombin (AT) for the treatment of hemophilia and rare bleeding disorders (RBD), at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) held December 7 - 10, 2013 in New Orleans.

10 Dec 2013

Arrowhead reports Phase 1 study data on ARC-520 for treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection

Arrowhead Research Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted RNAi therapeutics, today announced that COO and Head of R&D, Bruce Given, M.D., presented data on the Phase 1 clinical study of ARC-520, the company's clinical candidate for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection, at the HepDART 2013 conference being held on The Big Island, Hawaii.

9 Dec 2013

Largest-ever immunization campaign under way in the Middle East

The largest-ever immunization response in the Middle East is under way this week, aiming to vaccinate more than 23 million children against polio in Syria and neighbouring countries over the coming weeks.

9 Dec 2013

Revised Clinical Practice Guidelines on management of HCV published by EASL

The European Association for the Study of the Liver today publishes their revised Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) on the management of hepatitis C virus infection. The EASL guidelines, which supersede the previous version published in 2011, are designed to help physicians and other healthcare providers optimise their management of patients with acute and chronic HCV.

9 Dec 2013

People lack knowledge about efficacy of HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer

Knowledge about the efficacy of the human papillomavirus vaccine in preventing cervical cancer was lacking in the majority of survey respondents for whom the information would be relevant, according to results presented here at the Sixth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held Dec. 6-9.

9 Dec 2013

Janssen reports positive pivotal Phase 2 study data of siltuximab for Multicentric Castleman's Disease

Janssen Research & Development, LLC today announced positive results from a pivotal Phase 2 global registration study (MCD2001) suggesting siltuximab, an investigational compound, along with best supportive care, exhibited statistically significant efficacy and a tolerable safety profile compared with placebo and BSC in treating patients with the rare disorder Multicentric Castleman's Disease who are HIV-negative and human herpes virus 8-negative.

8 Dec 2013

ATS Labs offers testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against H7N9 virus

ATS Labs announced today that they are pleased to offer testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against avian influenza A (H7N9) virus. Avian influenza A (H7N9) virus, called H7N9 for short, has infected humans in China causing severe respiratory illness.

6 Dec 2013

New research finds that H7N9 still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans

Avian influenza virus H7N9, which killed several dozen people in China earlier this year, has not yet acquired the changes needed to infect humans easily, according to a new study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute. In contrast to some initial studies that had suggested that H7N9 poses an imminent risk of a global pandemic, the new research found, based on analyses of virus samples from the Chinese outbreak, that H7N9 is still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans.

6 Dec 2013

Longer reads: HIV secrets, millennials' mental health and sleeping pills without side effects

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

6 Dec 2013

Autumn-born children prone to asthma

Month of birth closely correlates with the prevalence of bronchial asthma, a major study of Taiwanese children has found.

5 Dec 2013

Genocea commences GEN-004 Phase 1 study to prevent pneumococcus infections

Genocea Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage company pioneering novel T cell vaccines, announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1 study of GEN-004, an investigational vaccine candidate for pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumoniae), a major cause of infectious disease-related death globally. GEN-004 is the first vaccine candidate designed to prevent infections caused by all strains of pneumococcus through a novel T cell-mediated mechanism of action.

5 Dec 2013

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

New drug-resistant strain of bird flu appears to retain ability to cause serious disease in humans

GSK's FluLaval Quadrivalent vaccine effective in reducing flu cases in children

Scientists explore mechanisms of viruses' shells

Emergent BioSolutions enters into definitive agreement to acquire Cangene

HCV antiviral therapy also improves diabetes outcomes

Detectable blood viral load increases prevalence of heart disease

New antimicrobial coating prevents infections during cold winter months

Duke University receives $2.9M grant to develop HIV vaccine candidate

Preparing for better management of Tamiflu-resistant influenza viruses

Alnylam presents new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3 for treatment of hemophilia and RBD

Arrowhead reports Phase 1 study data on ARC-520 for treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection

Largest-ever immunization campaign under way in the Middle East

Revised Clinical Practice Guidelines on management of HCV published by EASL

People lack knowledge about efficacy of HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer

Janssen reports positive pivotal Phase 2 study data of siltuximab for Multicentric Castleman's Disease

ATS Labs offers testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against H7N9 virus

New research finds that H7N9 still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans

Longer reads: HIV secrets, millennials' mental health and sleeping pills without side effects

Autumn-born children prone to asthma

Genocea commences GEN-004 Phase 1 study to prevent pneumococcus infections

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Innovating for impact: Jordi Labs on aligning methodologies with FDA expectation

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Innovating for impact: Jordi Labs on aligning methodologies with FDA expectation

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

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