Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Idera second quarter net loss increases to $6.3 million

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Idera is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of DNA- and RNA-based drug candidates targeted to Toll-Like receptors (TLRs).

5 Aug 2011

Scientists identify small molecule inhibitors of cellular uptake

Scientists from Freie Universität Berlin and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence led by biochemist Volker Haucke in collaboration with colleagues from Australia and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin have developed small molecules that inhibit the internalization of important signaling molecules but also of pathogenic organisms such as the immunodeficiency virus and bacteria into cells.

5 Aug 2011

Triple threat of catching three varieties of flu in one season

Each year, 200,000 Americans are hospitalized due to flu-related complications. That number can rise or fall - often dramatically - based on the effectiveness of the selected flu vaccine, said Dr. Jorge Parada, director of infection prevention and control at Loyola University Health System.

5 Aug 2011

New HIV numbers stable at 50,000 per year, down from 130,000 in the mid-1980s

According to government figures released Wednesday, the number of Americans newly infected with the AIDS virus each year has been holding steady at about 50,000. But a U.S. health official said just keeping the number stable was unacceptable, noting a dramatic increase in new HIV cases among young gay and bisexual black men.

5 Aug 2011

Akonni to develop closed amplicon RT-PCR microarray for virus detection in CSF

Akonni Biosystems, a molecular diagnostics company that develops novel nucleic acid extraction and microarray-based testing systems designed to rapidly and economically analyze biological samples, today announced receipt of a $300K grant from the National Institutes of Health.

5 Aug 2011

CDC: HIV infection rates hold steady except among young black males

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that while the overall number of people who are infected each year is relatively steady, but there was a 48 percent increase in the number of young HIV-infected African American men who have sex with men from 2006 to 2009.

5 Aug 2011

Novel DNA sensing pathway linked to increased susceptibility to malaria

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have uncovered a novel DNA-sensing pathway important to the triggering of an innate immune response for malaria. Activation of this pathway appears to stimulate production of an overabundance of type-1 interferon by the immune system that may contribute to inflammation and fever in malaria patients and could play a part in susceptibility for the most common and lethal form of malaria known as plasmodium falciparum.

5 Aug 2011

World must scale up AIDS fight, even as donors scale back

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece that "amid all the good news" about HIV prevention recently presented at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, "one stubborn fact was hard to ignore: AIDS remains a metaphor for inequality."

4 Aug 2011

Tips to minimize risk of bug bites and related illnesses

While the image of a bug crawling on your arm or a creepy crawler snuggling up in your bed is enough to make you flinch, most bug bites are harmless and disappear on their own in a matter of days. Other insects, however, can spread disease and cause severe reactions that require medical attention.

4 Aug 2011

Gold nanoparticles for rapid, accurate diagnosis of flu

Arriving at a rapid and accurate diagnosis is critical during flu outbreaks, but until now, physicians and public health officials have had to choose between a highly accurate yet time-consuming test or a rapid but error-prone test.

4 Aug 2011

USDA NIFA awards NC State $25M grant to study human noroviruses

North Carolina State University will use a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to strengthen food safety by studying human noroviruses across the food supply chain in an effort to design effective control measures and reduce the number of virus-caused food-borne illnesses.

4 Aug 2011

Concentrated HIV epidemics emerging among MSM in Middle East, North Africa, study shows

Concentrated HIV epidemics are emerging among men who have sex with men in the Middle East and North Africa, "and high levels of risky sexual behavior threaten to spread the AIDS virus further in the region, researchers said Tuesday" in a study published in PLoS Medicine, Reuters reports.

4 Aug 2011

NIH, NanoBio sign licensing agreement to develop vaccine against RSV infections

NanoBio Corporation today announced a licensing agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that represents a significant step forward in developing the first vaccine to protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections.

4 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Geithner, Bowles, Simpson, Ryan, Vladeck, Wilensky on health spending and the deficit

The agreement sets up a powerful mechanism for agreement on tax reforms to strengthen growth, and entitlement reforms to strengthen programs such as Medicare. A congressional committee with fast-track authority will have a Nov. 23 deadline to recommend a balanced package of long-term reforms to produce $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction.

4 Aug 2011

NanoViricides to apply 'lead optimization technology' to anti-HIV candidate

NanoViricides, Inc. recently reported on its completed animal study that compared its lead anti-HIV candidate HIVCide™, to a HAART (highly active anti retroviral therapy) triple drug cocktail. The cocktail used therein is based on an anti-HIV therapeutic protocol in current practice. The Company has received numerous inquiries for simplified explanation of the results.

3 Aug 2011

Study looks at HIV infections in Middle East and North Africa

New research shows that sex between men (MSM - Men who have Sex with Men) is responsible for more than a quarter of new HIV infections in parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

3 Aug 2011

Positive results from Jennerex JX-594 proof-of-concept trial on metastatic melanoma

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic products for cancer, today announced that positive results from a proof-of-concept clinical trial using JX-594 to treat patients with metastatic melanoma were published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Therapy.

2 Aug 2011

Alnylam second quarter revenue decreases to $20.6 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the second quarter 2011, and company highlights.

From Precision NanoSystems Inc. 2 Aug 2011

New birth control guidelines in U.S.

Planned parenting groups are cheering while some religious organizations are unhappy with the move that would require health insurance companies to provide women free birth control, in keeping with new Obama administration guidelines. The Department of Health and Human Services call it “historic” and also say that insurance companies must provide women with other preventive services free of charge.

1 Aug 2011

Preventive health services at no additional cost for women: HHS

Historic new guidelines that will ensure women receive preventive health services at no additional cost were announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

1 Aug 2011