Tag:
pandemic flu
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Pandemic flu vaccine research poses risk of unintended release
Virulent flu strains pose the danger of potential release, even when used in experiments for vaccine research, and investigators from the Harvard and Yale universities are calling for greater scrutiny of such studies.
Novartis, Novavax whip up new bird flu vaccines as pandemic fears flourish
Winter's coming, along with warnings that new cases of H7N9 bird flu in China warrant a global pandemic alert. While the most recent pandemic alarms have fizzled out without any major outbreaks of a lethal virus, the federal government has been supporting work on new vaccine technologies.
Visterra advances universal flu antibody to cusp of Phase I
Massachusetts-based biotech Visterra is preparing to move its universal influenza therapy into the clinic.
Visterra's engineered antibody passes preclinical test as universal flu treatment
Cambridge, MA-based Visterra has finished assembling its preclinical puzzle for a universal influenza therapy, reviewing how its lead engineered antibody thwarted a pair of lethal viruses--still raising alarms around the world--in a mouse study.
HHS weighs H7N9 vaccine stockpiling options
Stockpiling vaccines requires authorities to peek into the future. When H1N1 was causing panic in 2009, the U.S. predicted it would need 160 million vaccine doses. But demand never took off, and the U.S. destroyed 40 million out-of-date vaccines in 2010.
Gates-inspired gene therapy gives pandemic protection
The history of science is filled with seemingly random events that led to breakthroughs. Now it might have another. A meeting with Bill Gates has inspired a pandemic flu gene therapy.
Virus patent sparks debate at WHO meeting
The World Health Assembly met last week with the backdrop of worries about pandemic viruses. In Saudi Arabia the coronavirus death toll is rising, and H7N9 is active in China. The outbreaks--and the global response--put the pandemic influenza preparedness (PIP) framework in the spotlight.
Pfizer points to pandemic potential of Prevnar 13
In pandemic flu preparation, a lot of focus is placed on protecting against the specific viral strain. Yet analysis of the 1918 pandemic shows secondary bacterial pneumonia directly caused many of the deaths. This brings Pfizer's Prevnar 13 into play, and the Big Pharma is talking up its role.
Novartis taps synthetic biology to speed vax development
The agenda for the mammalian synthetic biology workshop held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last weekend demonstrates that renewed interest in vaccines has opened up new therapeutic targets, which in turn has driven new approaches to manufacturing. And the threats of pandemic flu and bioterrorism have acted as an extra innovation driver.
H7N9 cases jump, some show resistance to Roche's Tamiflu
The arms race analogy for vaccines is rarely more apt than during a pandemic flu outbreak. Last week the U.S. touted a new, more streamlined approach to vaccine development. This week the virus raised the stakes with a surge of new cases that suggest it is adapting to human hosts.
