FDA asks for more info on GSK's new combo vaccine; First patients line up for Provenge;

Vaccine Research

GlaxoSmithKline has received a complete response letter from the FDA for MenHibrix, a new vaccine that combines its meningococcal and Hib vaccines. Story

Cancer vaccine developer IRX Therapeutics has raised $8 million through a note offering to existing investors. The latest financing brings IRX's total to $80 million. "We have made significant progress in recent months, including our collaboration with the National Cancer Research Center in Japan to further study IRX-2, as well as other research and clinical collaborations under development," says CEO John W. Hadden II. Release

The FDA has provided its orphan drug designation for ICT-107, a dendritic cell-based cancer vaccine candidate which targets glioblastoma multiforme. Release

An experimental vaccine developed to prevent outbreaks of Marburg hemorrhagic fever continues to show promise in monkeys as an emergency treatment for accidental exposures to the virus that causes the disease. There is no licensed treatment for Marburg infection, which has a high fatality rate. Release

In a hunt for new vaccines for HSV, researchers in Australia are studying the immune cell response to the virus. Story

A Rockefeller University team has modified a yellow fever vaccine to make it effective against malaria. Story

Vaccine Market

A Texas man become one of the first persons in the U.S. to have his prostate cancer treated by the newly approved Provenge. Some 2000 people will be treated with Provenge during the first full year of use. Report

A facility for the manufacture of vaccines using Novavax's virus-like particle technology is currently undergoing validation outside Ahmadabad, India. The plant has the capacity to produce 60 million doses per year. Story

The USDA has licensed the first influenza vaccine ever designed for dogs. Intervet/Schering Plough Animal Health released Nobivac last year while safety tests were being run on it. Report

The International Coordinating Group on Yellow Fever Vaccine Provision is warning that 120 million people risk infection unless mass vaccination campaigns are carried out in Nigeria and Ghana. Release