Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Taking a jab at cancer by stimulating the immune system

As the first FDA-approved cancer vaccine, designed to protect against human papillomavirus, has moved from scientific discussion to social debate, other vaccine studies are continuing to make progress.

18 Apr 2007

Controlling impact of Ebola - new vaccines could control impact of Ebola on wild apes

Why have large outbreaks of Ebola virus killed tens of thousands of gorillas and chimpanzees over the last decade? Observations published in the May issue of The American Naturalist provide new clues, suggesting that outbreaks may be amplified by Ebola transmission between ape social groups.

17 Apr 2007

H5N1 western genomes sequenced

In a paper in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases , an international team of researchers report the first ever large-scale sequencing of western genomes of the deadly avian influenza virus, H5N1.

17 Apr 2007

Too many of the world's poor still denied HIV drugs

According to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS and UNICEF, only 28% of the world's poor with HIV have access to the antiretroviral drugs that could save their lives.

17 Apr 2007

U.S. ready for bird flu

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has approved for the first time a vaccine to prevent bird flu in humans.

17 Apr 2007

Potential biomarkers for early detection of liver cancer

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have discovered a means for early detection of liver cancer.

16 Apr 2007

Bristol-Myers Squibb announces new results of Baraclude (entecavir) resistance monitoring program

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has announced new results of the Baraclude (entecavir) resistance monitoring program, which found a continued low incidence of resistance in studies of nucleoside-naive chronic hepatitis B patients through four years of treatment.

16 Apr 2007

New drug therapy zaps hepatitis C in 12 weeks

Trials of new hepatitis C drug suggest sufferers could be cleared of the virus within 12 weeks of treatment.

16 Apr 2007

CDC warns about threat of drug resistant gonorrhoea

According to the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gonorrhoea affects as many as 700,000 Americans each year and the sexually transmitted disease has now become so drug resistant doctors are running out of options with which to treat it.

16 Apr 2007

Should stocks of smallpox virus be destroyed?

Smallpox was eradicated in 1980, but the virus still exists in WHO controlled depositories. In this week's BMJ , two experts go head to head over whether these stocks should be destroyed.

15 Apr 2007

Macaque genome analysis will improve scientists' ability to identify human genes involved in diseases

Cornell experts in computational biology and bioinformatics have made key contributions to the analysis of the genome of the rhesus macaque, better known as the rhesus monkey.

15 Apr 2007

Understanding of primate evolution advanced

The completed DNA sequence of the rhesus macaque ,an Old World monkey, has advanced understanding of primate evolution and will enhance medical research in neuroscience, behavioral biology, reproductive physiology, endocrinology, heart and blood vessel disease and immunodeficiency, said scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Human Genome Sequencing Center who led the effort.

15 Apr 2007

CuraGen announces results with Belinostat and Velafermin

CuraGen Corporation has announced that new preclinical data on belinostat (PXD101), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor being investigated for the treatment of cancer, and velafermin, a protein being investigated for the prevention of severe oral mucositis, will be presented at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2007 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA, April 14-18, 2007.

15 Apr 2007

Analysis of Rhesus monkey genome provides new clues to primate biology

An international consortium of researchers has published the genome sequence of the rhesus macaque monkey and aligned it with the chimpanzee and human genomes.

12 Apr 2007

Roche and Transgene S.A. partner on HPV vaccine program

Roche and Transgene S.A. have announced that they have entered into an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize products from Transgene's therapeutic vaccine program against Human Papilloma Virus-mediated diseases.

11 Apr 2007

Schering-Plough commits to chronic hepatitis C research

Schering-Plough has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing the science and treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with several key data presentations at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) 42nd annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain, April 11-15.

11 Apr 2007

HPV scientists to be honored

The potential for a new vaccine to eliminate cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV, will be celebrated during the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center's eighth annual Discovery Ball on Saturday, April 28, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

11 Apr 2007

Freedom from the egg holds much promise for new flu vaccines

An experimental flu vaccine made in insect cells – not in eggs, where flu vaccines currently available in the United States are grown – is safe and as effective as conventional vaccines in protecting people against the flu, according to results published in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association .

11 Apr 2007

Experimental flu vaccine produced using insect cells shows promise

An influenza vaccine produced with the use of insect cells appeared safe and produced an immunogenic response in healthy adults, suggesting promise as an alternative to using embryonated eggs for the development of influenza vaccine, according to a preliminary study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Apr 2007

Abbott opens biotech facility in Puerto Rico

"This new facility is a key milestone for Abbott as we move to focus our resources and future growth on biologic and potent-drug manufacturing," said Lawrence Kraus, vice president of manufacturing, global pharmaceutical operations, Abbott.

11 Apr 2007