Vaccine Research
BioSante Pharmaceuticals has announced publication of results from a Phase II clinical study that show the company's pancreatic cancer vaccine increased the median survival of resected pancreatic cancer patients from 15 to 20 months, as reported in published data, to 24.8 months, an increase of more than 25 percent. BioSante release
India is getting its first AIDS vaccine design lab at the government-run Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute in Gurgaon. The Rs 51 crore lab will work on developing a broad spectrum vaccine capable of fighting different strains of HIV. Item
Chinese researchers who tested reassortants that combined the 2009 H1N1 virus with H9N2, a subtype that commonly circulates in birds, found that several were more pathogenic then the parent viruses, which they said could pose a pandemic threat. News
Vaccine Market
Eisai Wednesday denied reports that it will join hands with Sanofi-Aventis Group to develop and sell vaccines globally. Noting that it previously entered into a license and supply agreement with the French pharmaceutical maker for the use of its E6020 vaccine in 2005, the Japanese company said that nothing has been decided regarding a production or sales tie. Story
Research into vaccination rates shows older Australians are well protected against the flu but less so against pneumococcal disease, and whooping cough is a chink in the armor. Item
Novavax said Tuesday it gave pharmaceutical company LG Life Sciences an exclusive license to develop and sell flu vaccines using its technology in South Korea. Report
Humans aren't the only ones who get the flu. Man's best friend can also be afflicted with the bug. A Kansas shelter has received a grant for CIV vaccine as part of a Petfinder.com Foundation program to build community immunity against this respiratory infection. The foundation partnered with Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, a global animal health company and makers of the NOBIVAC(r) Canine Flu H3N8 vaccine, to fund the grant. Story