Vaccine Research
Scientists in Southampton, U.K. have found a way to work with the chlamydia genome. This development could lead to a vaccine for the most commonly sexually transmitted disease. The researchers were able to use calcium ions and foreign DNA to penetrate the genome that has proved tough for them to crack. Article
Aduro BioTech's Phase II pancreatic cancer vaccine trial has treated its first patient. The 90-patient trial is studying survival rates as well as immune responses and safety for CRS-207 and GVAX pancreas cancer vaccine. Report
Intercell is planning an efficacy study for a pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine after analyzing positive results from a previous Phase II study. Novartis has partnered with the vaccine maker on the product. Item
Bern, Switzerland-based biotech Pevion Biotech has achieved a 100% mucosal immune response from its Candida vaccine PEV7. The vaccine is a potential treatment for recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. Pevion release
Vaccine Market
The NIH has bestowed a $3.5 million grant upon Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Loyola University to work on an anthrax vaccine using the lab's nanolipoprotein technology. Story
And Finally... A faked vaccination program led to the death of Osama bin Laden, and a key doctor in the plan may meet the same fate. A Pakistani commission has recommended Dr. Shakil Afridi be tried for treason; if found guilty, his punishment could be hanging. Afridi went door-to-door in the Abbottabad, Pakistan, community where bin Laden's compound was located. News