Student-created vax prevents cancers, ulcers; Researchers revive immune cells exhausted by HIV;

Vaccine Research

A team of 13 Slovenia undergraduate students have created a genetically engineered vaccine for the bacteria that causes stomach cancer and ulcers. The prototype vax won the Grand Prize at the annual International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, or iGEM, held at MIT. Report

Researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of California-San Francisco have discovered a way to 'rescue' immune cells that are exhausted from fighting off HIV infection. The researchers found that blocking the activity of a molecule called Tim-3 on these cells improved their function and allowed them to rejoin the battle against HIV. Release

Research in Egypt and Nigeria has confirmed that a new vaccine, which only acts against the most common strain of polio, is far more effective than a vaccine targeting multiple strains of the virus. Report

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) celebrated the opening of a Vaccine Design and Development Laboratory in New York City, the only facility in the world exclusively devoted to the development of an AIDS vaccine. Release

Vaccine Market

Dutch biopharma Crucell has sold Etna Biotech, its wholly owned vaccines subsidiary, to Zydus Cadila--an Indian healthcare company. Report

Everyone is talking about whether Gardasil should be on the list of mandatory vaccines as Merck would like; now some academics are chiming in and saying why that's not such a great idea. Report

Sanofi Pasteur announced today that Russia has chosen Sanofi's inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) as the primary immunization for all infants. Report