Vaccines
Researcher taking shot at flu vaccine that's more effective, easier to make
February 7, 2013 8:52 am | by Elizabeth K. Gardner, Purdue University | News | Comments
In the midst of an unusually deadly flu season and armed with a vaccine that only offers partial protection, a Purdue University researcher is working on a flu vaccine that overcomes the need to predict which strains will hit each year and eliminates the common causes of vaccine shortages.
Officials alarmed by increasing superbug reports
March 7, 2013 3:08 pm | by Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer | News | Comments
Health officials are reporting an alarming increase in some dangerous superbugs at U.S....
Researcher taking shot at flu vaccine that's more effective, easier to make
February 7, 2013 8:52 am | by Elizabeth K. Gardner, Purdue University | News | Comments
In the midst of an unusually deadly flu season and armed with a vaccine that only offers partial...
Regulator keeps vaccines at right temperature
May 10, 2013 12:04 pm | News | CommentsRice University students have created a way to help health care workers track vaccines and keep them at a safe temperature. The SAFE Vaccine senior engineering design team assembled a device to regulate the temperature of any standard refrigerator to keep it within a range that’s safe for vaccines. Their invention also tracks vaccine stock, usage, and expiration dates and, as a result, takes a load of paperwork off the backs of nurses.
New world strategy aims to eradicate polio by 2018
April 2, 2013 5:44 pm | by LAURAN NEERGAARD - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsA new global plan aims to end most cases of polio by late next year, and essentially eradicate the paralyzing disease by 2018 — if authorities can raise the $5.5 billion needed to do the work, health officials said Tuesday. Part of the challenge will be increasing security for vaccine workers who have come under attack in two of the hardest-hit countries. And the plan calls for changing how much of the world protects against polio, phasing out the long-used oral vaccine in favor of a pricier but safer shot version.
Novel Amgen virus-vaccine shrinks melanoma tumors
March 20, 2013 1:53 pm | by LINDA A. JOHNSON - AP Business Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsShares of drugmaker Amgen Inc. are rising on news its innovative melanoma drug, which uses a virus as a Trojan horse to infiltrate and destroy tumors, shrank far more tumors than a standard treatment in a late-stage test. The results, released late Tuesday, show there's promise for similar vaccines other companies are developing.
Researchers trick bacteria to deliver a safer vaccine
March 13, 2013 10:25 am | News | CommentsVaccines that employ weakened but live pathogens to trigger immune responses have inherent safety issues but Yale University researchers have developed a new trick to circumvent the problem—using bacteria’s own cellular mistakes to deliver a safe vaccine. The findings suggest new ways to create novel vaccines that effectively combat disease but can be tolerated by children, the elderly, and the immune-compromised who might be harmed by live vaccines.
NIH chief: Cuts put vital medical research at risk
February 14, 2013 2:24 pm | by LAURAN NEERGAARD - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsBetter cancer drugs that zero in on a tumor with fewer side effects. A universal flu vaccine that could fight every strain of influenza without needing a yearly shot. Research into potentially life-saving products like these will be delayed and newer discoveries shelved if Congress can't avert impending budget cuts that the director of the National Institutes of Health warns will have far-reaching effects.
A safer way to vaccinate
January 28, 2013 7:43 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsMassachusetts Institute of Technology researchers describe a new type of vaccine-delivery film that holds promise for improving the effectiveness of DNA vaccines. If such vaccines could be successfully delivered to humans, they could overcome not only the safety risks of using viruses to vaccinate against diseases such as HIV, but they would also be more stable, making it possible to ship and store them at room temperature.
Novartis meningitis vaccine wins EU approval
January 22, 2013 8:38 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsEuropean regulators have approved the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Swiss drugmaker Novartis. Novartis said Tuesday that the European Commission approved Bexsero for use in patients ages 2 months and older, and the company will make the vaccine available as soon as possible.
In fly DNA, the footprint of a fly virus
August 2, 2012 5:10 am | News | CommentsIn a curious evolutionary twist, biologists from the University of Buffalo report, several species of a commonly studied fruit fly appear to have incorporated genetic material from a virus into their genomes. This discovery of virus-like genes in the DNA of a commonly studied fruit fly could enable research on whether animals hijack viral genes as an anti-viral defense.
Prozac could be an effective anti-viral
July 30, 2012 4:15 am | News | CommentsResearchers have come across an unexpected potential use for fluoxetine—commonly known as Prozac—which shows promise as an antiviral agent. Using molecular screening, a California research team found that fluoxetine was a potent inhibitor of replication in viruses found in the gastrointestinal tract. The discovery could provide another tool in treating human enteroviruses that sicken and kill people in the U.S. and around the world.
iBio Inc., GE Healthcare form global alliance
July 26, 2012 8:49 am | News | CommentsiBio Inc. and GE Healthcare announced a new global alliance to commercialize plant-based technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. The alliance builds on the existing development and marketing agreement between the two companies announced in 2010.
Insights into protein folding may lead to better flu vaccine
July 26, 2012 3:36 am | by Krishna Ramanujan, Cornell University | News | CommentsA new method for looking at how proteins fold inside mammal cells is allowing researchers to take snapshots of the cell's protein-making machinery—called ribosomes—in various stages of protein production. The scientists can then piece together the snapshots to reconstruct how proteins fold during their synthesis. The findings could one day lead to better flu vaccines, the researchers say.
Scientists explore new class of synthetic vaccine
July 25, 2012 5:37 am | News | CommentsIn a quest to make safer and more effective vaccines, scientists at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have turned to a promising field called DNA nanotechnology to make a new class of synthetic vaccines. In their work, the team developed the first vaccine complex that could be delivered safely and effectively by piggybacking onto self-assembled, 3D DNA nanostructures.
Scientists show new compound virtually eliminates HIV in cell culture
July 20, 2012 3:45 am | News | CommentsA new study by scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute shows, in cell culture, a natural compound can virtually eliminate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infected cells. The compound defines a novel class of HIV anti-viral drugs endowed with the capacity to repress viral replication in acutely and chronically infected cells.
HIV immunity study could pave way for vaccine development
July 17, 2012 9:33 am | News | CommentsTwo Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are among the team recently funded to explore ways to create the precise immune factors needed for effective vaccines against HIV. The Duke University-led consortium will largely concentrate on inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies that can prevent HIV-1 infection, as well as on generating protective T-cell and innate immune system responses.
Silk technology preserves heat-sensitive drugs
July 10, 2012 5:57 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have discovered a way to maintain the potency of vaccines and other drugs—that otherwise require refrigeration—for months and possibly years at temperatures above 110 F, by stabilizing them in a silk protein made from silkworm cocoons.
Building molecular 'cages' to fight disease
June 4, 2012 6:35 am | News | CommentsUniversity of California, Los Angeles biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines.
Study: DNA vaccine and duck eggs protect against hantavirus disease
May 24, 2012 4:21 am | News | CommentsThe highly pathogenic hantavirus causes a condition known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which has a case fatality rate of 35-40%. To help the fight against a disease that has no vaccine, U.S. Army scientists and industry collaborators have successfully protected laboratory animals from lethal hantavirus disease using a novel approach that combines DNA vaccines and duck eggs.
Army researcher develops potential vaccine carrier
April 23, 2012 9:15 am | News | CommentsWhile microemulsions are now used for drug delivery, such as antibiotics and syrups, using them for vaccines is new area of research. A U.S. Army major has developed a microemulsion made from five ingredients that could be a stable, promising candidate delivering a variety of antigens against diseases such as influenza.
Bird flu, pig flu, now bat flu? Human risk unclear
February 27, 2012 5:34 pm | by Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsFlu bugs are common in humans, birds and pigs and have even been seen in dogs, horses, seals and whales, among others. But for the first time, scientists have found evidence of flu in bats, reporting a never-before-seen virus whose risk to humans is unclear.
The reason why bad immunity genes persist
February 7, 2012 5:54 pm | News | CommentsBiologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs—even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.
Talk of treaty ban on mercury concerns scientists
October 21, 2011 8:20 am | by Maria Cheng, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsAt the end of October, the United Nations Environment Programme, or UNEP, will conduct the third of five meetings to hammer out a treaty that may involve the comprehensive ban on mercury. The problem, says many health experts, is that a proposed ban might include thiomersal, a mercury compound used to prevent contamination and extend the shelf life of vaccines.
New technology could help AIDS researchers develop new vaccines
October 17, 2011 12:03 pm | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsA team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new technology that can measure multiple aspects of individual T cells' responses to HIV-infected cells, including their ability to kill them. The technology could make it easier to monitor and design vaccines against HIV.
LLNL, Loyola win NIH grant to develop anthrax vaccine
October 10, 2011 9:07 am | News | CommentsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory, working with Loyola University, has won a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help develop a new anthrax vaccine. The grant is the first major NIH-funded biodefense grant focused on LLNL's nanolipoprotein technology.
Antibody recognizes many strains of flu virus
August 8, 2011 11:53 am | News | CommentsUnlike many vaccines, the shot for influenza needs yearly updating. Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have discovered a human antibody that recognizes many different flu strains and could be the basis for a longer-lasting vaccine.
LEUKOCARE, Sanofi Pasteur sign agreement for vaccine stabilization
July 25, 2011 8:51 am | News | CommentsLEUKOCARE AG, a privately-owned specialist company for protein stabilization and biological surface coating, announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi. As part of this cooperation, Sanofi Pasteur will explore LEUKOCARE’s SPS platform technology to enhance the shelf-life of selected vaccine formulations.
