Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Qutenza 8% patch now available for pain associated with PHN: NeurogesX

NeurogesX, Inc. announced today that Qutenza® (capsaicin) 8% patch, the first and only product containing prescription-strength capsaicin, is now available. Clinical studies have shown that a single one-hour Qutenza application can provide three months relief from pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia, the nerve pain that can occur after shingles.

6 Apr 2010

SCYNEXIS' SCY-635 inhibitor abstracts accepted for presentation at EASL Annual Meeting

Drug discovery company, SCYNEXIS, Inc. today announced that multiple abstracts related to the Company's cyclophilin inhibitor, SCY-635, were accepted for presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna, Austria, April 14-18, 2010.

6 Apr 2010

60 Minutes examines PEPFAR in Uganda

CBS News' 60 Minutes reports from Uganda about how PEPFAR has helped people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the country and the challenges Uganda still faces in fighting the spread of the virus. The show includes interviews with Peter Mugyenyi of the Joint Clinical Research Center in Kampala, Uganda, and other doctors on the ground, who discuss how HIV-positive children and adults are alive today as a result of PEPFAR and how the program has helped to improve the way Africans view the United States.

5 Apr 2010

Mass. municipalities could be hard hit by Cadillac tax

The Boston Globe: "Massachusetts municipalities that offer employees, retirees, and elected officials the most generous and costly health insurance plans will feel the squeeze of the new national health care law's tax on 'Cadillac' insurance plans. A family health plan that costs more than $27,500 would be subject to a 40 percent tax on every dollar spent above that threshold.

5 Apr 2010

Peregrine's PS-targeting antibodies block HIV from entry into blood cells

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the publication of data showing phosphatidylserine (PS)-targeting antibodies can block one of the key ways the AIDS virus gains entry into certain blood cells. The data were generated by scientists at Duke University as part of their ongoing AIDS vaccine research. The article titled "Anti-Phospholipid Human Monoclonal Antibodies Inhibit CCR5-Tropic HIV-1 and Induces β-Chemokines" is available online today and will be published in the April 12, 2010 edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

5 Apr 2010

Request for lift of full clinical hold on Proellex program

Repros Therapeutics Inc. today announced that the Company has requested a lift of the full clinical hold on its oral drug Proellex® being developed for the treatment of uterine fibroids and endometriosis. On August 4, 2009, the FDA noted that further testing of Proellex® was placed on full clinical hold due to findings of serious adverse events associated with liver toxicity.

5 Apr 2010

Why is the genome project not yielding results faster?

As the genome projects reaches the 10 year landmark scientists are defending it. While the sequencing of the 3 billion letters in the human DNA took a long time the first draft of the human genome was presented ten years ago. Today it is possible to have your individual DNA mapped in a day and at the low cost of $5,000.

5 Apr 2010

NewsHour examines research of HIV positive patients who can suppress the virus

PBS' NewsHour examines how a team of U.S. researchers is heading up a study in Lima, Peru, of patients living with HIV whose immune systems are able to suppress the virus.

3 Apr 2010

Kaiser Permanente ranked highest in 2010 Member Health Insurance Plan Study

Kaiser Permanente announced today that its members in four geographic regions rated the organization's health plans highest in customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Member Health Insurance Plan Study.

3 Apr 2010

CTRC commences enrollment in Phase 2 trial of REOLYSIN combination for SCC lung cancer

A virus that destroys cancer cells but leaves normal cells unharmed may offer hope to those affected by squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs (SCC lung cancer), according to investigators from the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The CTRC has started patient enrollment in a US Phase 2 clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN® in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with SCC lung cancer.

3 Apr 2010

Scientists provide first-ever glimpse of HIV protein structure

Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have provided the first-ever glimpse of the structure of a key protein-gp120-found on the surface of a specific subgroup of the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV-1.

3 Apr 2010

Premature fall in the swine flu vaccination rates worries health officials

Last fall there was a mad rush for the HINI vaccine for the deadly swine flu that had gripped countries across the world. H1N1 flu has killed about 12,000 Americans and put 265,000 into the hospital in the last pandemic. This year has seen a few signs of seasonal flu, which kills about 36,000 people in the United States each year and puts 200,000 in the hospital.

2 Apr 2010

Loyola University Medical Center launches 'Pay-it-Forward Kidney Transplant Program'

It's extremely rare when someone asking for nothing in return steps forward at a hospital and offers to donate a kidney to a complete stranger.

2 Apr 2010

Hepatitis C infected donor kidneys thrown away despite urgent need

More than half of donor kidneys in the United State infected with hepatitis C are thrown away, despite the need among hepatitis C patients who may die waiting for an infection-free organ, Johns Hopkins research suggests.

2 Apr 2010

Passengers on Brisbane train may have been exposed to measles

A NSW man who was diagnosed with measles travelled in a train from the Brisbane International Airport to South Brisbane about 8am on Saturday.

2 Apr 2010

Bloomberg examines potential benefits, drawbacks to PrEP

"Gilead Sciences Inc. may learn this year whether its drugs for treating HIV can also stop people from catching the virus in the first place," Bloomberg writes in a piece that examines the potential benefits and drawbacks to using low-doses of HIV/AIDS medications to reduce a person's risk of becoming infected with HIV. According to the news service, the initial results of 10 trials including more than 20,000 people could be available as early as July.

2 Apr 2010

New clues into genomic complexity of Mimivirus

A study published online today in the journal Genome Research offers surprising new clues into the genomic complexity of the giant Mimivirus, the largest known virus in the world. Previous studies have shown that unlike most viruses, the Mimivirus has more genes than many bacteria and performs functions that normally occur only in cellular organisms.

2 Apr 2010

Liver function tests misinterpreted in majority of children's hospitals

New research led by physician-scientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that the test most commonly used to screen pediatric patients for chronic liver disease is often incorrectly interpreted in many children's hospitals throughout the United States.

2 Apr 2010

Gene therapy improve survival rates among heart attack patients

Gene therapy could be an effective way to improve survival rates among heart attack patients, new research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) suggests. Academics at the University of Bristol found that boosting levels of a natural growth factor in the heart could help the muscle to recover after a heart attack. The death rate from a heart attack was halved in mice that received the treatment.

1 Apr 2010

VA may expand list of Gulf War illnesses

The Army Times/Veterans Today: "In a boost for veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and those who have served in recent years in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Veterans Affairs Department has proposed changes to its list of illnesses that are presumed connected to service to include nine infectious diseases."

1 Apr 2010