Infectious disease scientists report early development of a potential universal vaccine for Ebola viruses that preclinical tests show might neutralize all four species of these deadly viruses infecting people in recent outbreaks, mainly in Africa. Scientists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center report their preclinical results in the Journal of Virology, published by the American […]
Should pharmaceutical companies give up their patent protections to find a vaccine for COVID-19?
The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is on, and as the disease continues to upend societies around the world, public health officials are calling upon pharmaceutical companies to share their intellectual property—a move that could speed up research and make any eventual treatment more widely (and easily) accessible, says Northeastern law professor Brook Baker. Sharing […]
Search for a COVID-19 vaccine heats up in China, US
Three potential COVID-19 vaccines are making fast progress in early-stage testing in volunteers in China and the U.S., but it’s still a long road to prove if they’ll really work. China’s CanSino Biologics is beginning the second phase of testing its vaccine candidate, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said Tuesday. In the U.S., a […]
Pharma giants Sanofi, GSK working on COVID vaccine for 2021
Pharma giants Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline will join forces to work on a coronavirus vaccine they hope will enter clinical trials this year, potentially making it available in the second half of 2021, the companies said Tuesday. The vaccine will combine a Sanofi-developed antigen, which stimulates the production of germ-killing antibodies, with GSK’s adjuvant technology, a […]
How a new vaccine adjuvant might shorten race to COVID-19 immunity
Uli von Andrian is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Immunopathology at Harvard Medical School and Program Leader of Basic Immunology at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. In an interview with the Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD), von Andrian suggests that further research and development on a class of molecules called bisphosphonates might […]
COVID-19 could be a game-changer, as scientists race to develop a vaccine
COVID-19 could and should be a game-changer, and may see improvements to global health regulations making vaccines faster to develop, test and introduce in the future, according to an expert in health policy and law from The University of Western Australia. Dr. Marco Rizzi from the UWA Law School said current health frameworks facilitated fast […]
Research team working toward vaccine against COVID-19
The race is on to find a vaccine against the new COVID-19 coronavirus. Professor Jonathan Heeney explains why a cautious approach is needed and how his team is using new technology developed for influenza and Ebola viruses to target the new infection. It is hard now to conceive that two months ago, few people had […]
Mumps cases rise to highest level in decade – symptoms of the infection to look out for
Mumps cases spiked in 2019, with outbreaks in universities and colleges raising the number of cases of the viral infection to 5,042 in 2019 – a fourfold increase on the previous year. Most cases of mumps have been reported in young adults who missed out on the MMR jab so health officials are urging people […]
US scientists have completed a coronavirus vaccine
US scientists have completed a coronavirus vaccine, Texas-based genetic engineering company claims Greffex said Wednesday that they had finished development of their vaccine for the virus that has killed more than 2,000 worldwide Their shot is now ready for animal testing, followed by human trials Scientists at Greffex are among dozens worldwide racing to develop […]
HPV vaccine is 'near perfect' and up to 99.8% effective, study finds
HPV vaccine is ‘near perfect’ as analysis shows the jab is up to 99.8% effective at protecting against cervical cancer-causing viruses An expert at King’s College London analysed eight years of data on the vaccine He found that it was 97.6 per cent at protecting population from HPV infection Protection was best between five and […]