Vaccine Weekly articles from May 2002

Vaccine Weekly archives from May 2002

DNA vaccine provides long-term protection.(cytomegalovirus)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States say that an enhanced DNA vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) offers long-term protection from viral proliferation. "We...

Vaccine and drug combination eliminate viral DNA in some patients with HBV.(hepatitis B virus)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Boosting immune system response with hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine may offer an advantage to some patients who are infected with the virus and receiving...

Tick saliva genes key to vaccine.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When a deer tick bites a human or other mammalian host, it takes more than 24 hours before the Lyme disease bacterium travels from the tick's gut to the tick's salivary glands and then into the host....

Troybodies study shows promising results.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Affitech has converted its option into an exclusive worldwide license for the novel vaccine delivery technology, Troybodies. The company made the decision after early investigations demonstrated the...

Celgene offers promising preclinical data on two cytokine inhibitors.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Celgene Corp. (CELG) scientists presented data at the 93rd annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research from preclinical studies of IMiDs (Immunomodulatory Drugs) and SelCIDs...

Oncophage yields promising immunological results in melanoma and colorectal cancer trials.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antigenics, Inc., (AGEN) announced interim results from phase II trials evaluating Oncophage (HSPPC-96), the company's personalized cancer vaccine, in the treatment of both advanced melanoma and...

Vaccine shortage threatens world's immunization programs.(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The world is experiencing a serious vaccine shortage that threatens to jeopardize children's immunization programs in both developing and industrialized countries, the head of UNICEF has warned. ...

First quarter 2002 revenues increased 135%.(Crucell N.V.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dutch antibody and vaccine company Crucell (CRXL) saw its first quarter 2002 revenues increase by 135% compared with the same period last year. The pro forma loss increased by 60 %. The net loss...

IgE shows activity on animal mast-cell sensitization.(immunoglobulin E)(Brief Article)
May 8, 2002... 2002 MAY 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lindsay Edmunds, PhD, ELS, senior medical writer - Experiments with a rat immunization model indicated unchanging levels, but increasing avidity and greater relative proportions, of antigen-specific...

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine safe for low-birth-weight and preterm infants.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Researchers in the U.S. found heptavalent CRM197 pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) as safe and effective as the meningococcal type C conjugate vaccine (MCV)...

Anthrax vaccine does not affect pregnancy or birth rates.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - The pregnancy and birth rates of women who received the anthrax vaccine were not different from those of women who were not vaccinated, according to...

Panel finds vaccine to be safe, recommends more testing.(anthrax vaccine)(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A U.S. panel of scientists has endorsed the safety and effectiveness of the anthrax vaccine, but also suggested more research be done to improve it. Last year's anthrax-by-mail attacks focused...

How do you make the perfect vaccine?(Salmonella bacteria research)(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A big challenge in vaccine design is how to trigger a protective immune response with the safest possible vaccine. Research into how Salmonella bacteria cause infection is leading to safer, more...

Chimpanzee virus may be key to better vaccines, study shows.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunologists know that human adenoviruses, a common cause of respiratory tract infections in people, can be retooled in the laboratory to serve as effective vaccines against an array of viral...

Mark Leuchtenberger named president and CEO.(Therion Biologics Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Therion Biologics Corp., a leader in the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines, announced the appointment of Mark Leuchtenberger as the company's new president and CEO. Leuchtenberger joins...

Soaring rates of tuberculosis reported for children living in London.(United Kingdom)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rates of tuberculosis (TB) have risen 130% in children living in London over the past decade, reports a study in Archives of Disease in Childhood. More TB is being diagnosed in 10- to 16-year-olds...

Company reports 2001 4Q, year-end financial results.(AVAX Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avax Technologies, Inc., (AVXT) announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2001. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $6.3 million or $0.38 per...

New study in mice shows promise for vaccine to prevent plaque buildup.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cardiac researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, working in collaboration with Swedish investigators, have developed a novel vaccine to prevent plaque buildup in genetically engineered mice with...

Gene therapy vaccine in development for cancer.
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- T lymphocytes of the immune system are vital to bodily defenses against viruses and cancer. T lymphocytes are activated in part by molecules called costimulatory signals, of which 4-1BB is one example....

First cases in two years confirmed in Scotland.(measles)(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health officials confirmed the first cases of measles in Scotland in two years, as new figures revealed a decline in the number of children being given a vaccine against the illness. Dr. Mac...

New vaccine requirement met with resistance.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- College officials may have to needle students into getting a required vaccination. About 6000 of the 10,000 students who plan to live on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs next year...

Nabi Changes Name to Nabi Biopharmaceuticals.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nabi (NABI) announced that it has changed its name to Nabi Biopharmaceuticals. This change recognizes the completion of the company's strategic transition to become a vertically integrated...

Vaccine puts blood-sucking ticks off their food.(Brief Article)
May 15, 2002... 2002 MAY 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ticks spread a greater variety of diseases than any other blood-feeding creature, including mosquitoes. Now scientists are developing vaccines that prevent ticks from digesting the blood of their...

Cells expressing interleukin-2 arrest cancer growth and boost tumor immunity.(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Fibroblasts genetically engineered to express interleukin (IL)-2 cause tumor cell growth inhibition and protect against the formation of new brain tumors. ...

University of Illinois tests vaccine.(prostate cancer)(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A University of Illinois at Chicago researcher has developed and is now clinically testing a vaccine that boosts the body's own immune system in an effort to cure prostate cancer. The trial,...

Researchers test custom-made vaccine.(nonHodgkin lymphoma)(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As part of a national multicenter study, researchers at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore are testing a custom-made vaccine for low-grade nonHodgkin lymphoma that uses...

Disease on its way to global eradication.(polio)(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With a sense of a mission accomplished, in September 1994 the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced that polio had been eradicated from the Americas, bringing to an end a saga of thousands...

VaxGen joint venture appoints senior officers and directors.(Celltrion Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Celltrion, Inc., a joint venture owned by VaxGen, Inc., (VXGN) and a group of South Korean investors, announced the appointment of directors and interim senior officers to lead the company in its...

Novel compound discovered has multiple potential indications.(immunostimulatory peptide derG)(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CEL-SCI Corp. (CVM) announced the discovery of a novel compound called derG. The peptide is a modified, more potent version of a human sequence known to bind to both human and mouse immune cells and...

First phase III clinical trial of Peramivir completed.(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (BCRX) announced that patient enrollment is complete in the first phase III trial of once-a-day, orally administered peramivir (RWJ-270201), BioCryst's influenza...

Company proceeds to phase II clinical trial of StreptAvax.(ID Biomedical Corp. )(Brief Article)
May 22, 2002... 2002 MAY 22 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ID Biomedical Corp. announced that it has been granted permission by the Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate of the Health Products and Foods Branch of Health Canada to conduct a phase II...

Research in fungal pathogenesis offers new hope of vaccine strategies for immunosupressed patients.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at Harbor-UCLA Research and Education Institute (REI) are providing new hope for improved prevention and treatment of life-threatening infections caused by fungal pathogens. Working...

High hepatitis C virus load negates effective response to hepatitis B vaccine.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - People infected with a high hepatitis C virus (HCV) viral load may not develop protective titers after receiving hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine. The...

Agent renders hepatitis B vaccine more effective in hemodialysis patients.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - The authors of a new study have concluded AM3 (Inmunoferon) enhances the ability of kidney disease patients on hemodialysis to develop long-term protective...

Extra cytokines can improve idiotype vaccination efficacy.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Germany say that they have found a way to improve the benefits of idiotype vaccination for multiple myeloma patients. "Idiotype (Id)...

Transfection strategy improves dendritic cell-based tumor suppression.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A strategy of cotransfecting dendritic cells with lymphotactin gene and melanoma antigen can enhance the way the cells target melanoma tumor growth. ...

Vaccine candidates clear review; phase III results expected within month.(AIDS)(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The independent committee that oversees the only final-stage clinical trials of AIDS vaccine candidates has once again indicated that the vaccine candidates appear safe and that the trials are being...

Inex reports progress with a therapeutic vaccine to treat cancer.(Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp. )(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp. (IEX) presented data to the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in San Francisco, California, that showed the company's OligoVax therapeutic...

Company reports 2002 1Q pro forma results of 21 cents per share.(Chiron Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chiron Corporation (CHIR) reported pro-forma net income of $41 million or $0.21 per share for the first quarter of 2002, compared with $38 million, or $0.19 per share in the first quarter of 2001....

Nabi's first quarter earnings in line with expectations.(Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI) announced that financial results for the first quarter ended March 30, 2002, were consistent with previously communicated expectations. The company reported a net...

Single rotavirus genotype linked to gastroenteritis outbreaks.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A single, distinctive type of rotavirus may be responsible for the vast majority of rotavirus-induced gastroenteritis, researchers report. Dr. Dixie D....

Burton interested in vaccine data.(Dan Burton threatens medical information subpoena)(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Insurance companies say a congressman's threatened subpoena of medical information about millions of people could violate patient privacy and force them to close a database that lets the government...

Successful vaccination feasible in low-income countries.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of a study in the May 4, 2002, issue of the Lancet highlight the success of a WHO-recommended measles elimination strategy in southern Africa. Authors of the study emphasize how such strategies...

DynCorp enters phase I smallpox vaccine clinical trial.(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DynPort Vaccine Company LLC (DVC), a joint venture between DynCorp of Reston, Virginia, and Porton International, Inc., announced that it will enter into a large phase I clinical trial consisting of...

Some families told to wait on vaccine.(chickenpox)(Brief Article)
May 29, 2002... 2002 MAY 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children in North Dakota may have to wait to get their shots to prevent chickenpox, due to a vaccine shortage. Officials say the vaccine for chickenpox, as well as others, is in short supply in...