Virology / vaccines

The eighth eBook of the Hamilton series is now available to download for free. In ‘Assessing the Efficacy of Vaccines through Laboratory Assays‘, the authors discuss the key milestones achieved throughout the history of vaccine development, the laboratory tests commonly used to assess vaccines’ efficacy, and we describe how the latter can be automated using […]

In the eighth eBook of the Hamilton series, ‘Assessing the Efficacy of Vaccines through Laboratory Assays’, we discuss: Vaccine development: Key milestones and impact of Covid-19 Laboratory tests commonly used to assess vaccines’ efficacy and the benefits of automating them Hamilton standardised and customised solutions for workflows such as qPCR, NGS, ELISA/ELISpot and virus-neutralisation assays

The University of Queensland’s re-engineered clamp platform has produced a vaccine that is equally safe and virus-neutralising as an approved Covid vaccine considered among the best in its class. The pivotal proof-of-concept testing clears the way to progress the Clamp2 technology in a range of research programmes.   Project leader, Associate Professor Keith Chappell, said the […]

Genome sequencing has been used to study typhoid fever in a study in Zimbabwe and understand how the disease has evolved to be resistant to treatment. Typhoid fever claims over 135,000 lives annually. Treating it relies on antimicrobials but in the last couple of decades, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has made controlling it much harder. This […]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ixchiq, Valneva’s single-dose, live-attenuated vaccine for the prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The vaccine is indicated in individuals 18 years of age and older who are at increased risk of exposure to CHIKV. Ixchiq was granted Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy designations and […]

Researchers from Korea conducted a clinical trial to assess the immunogenicity and safety of GBP510/AS03 relative to the ChAdOx1-S vaccine. The interim results show that GBP510/AS03 had an acceptable safety profile and induced stronger antibody responses when compared with ChAdOx1-S GBP510 is a recombinant vaccine adjuvanted with AS03, designed to target the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s spike […]

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has voted to recommend Pfizer’s Penbraya (meningococcal group A, B, C, W and Y vaccine) for the prevention of the five most common meningococcal serogroups. These serogroups cause the majority of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in adolescents and young adults […]

The Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, UK, has launched the LEGACY03 study into human immunity, aimed to improve the design of seasonal vaccines and allow targeting by age group. This study, funded by the Medical Research Council, will test the responses of cells in lymph nodes before and after immunisation with flu […]

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  The news highlights this week feature a variety of treatment approaches, from cell therapy and antibody-drug conjugate to autotaxin inhibitor and arenaviral vaccine, […]

News round-up for 23-27 October by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer. My news highlights this week feature a variety of treatment approaches, from cell therapy and antibody-drug conjugate to autotaxin inhibitor and arenaviral vaccine, all entering early in-human clinical trials to treat a range of diseases. The top stories: Natural killer cell therapy shows […]

HB-400, a novel arenaviral therapeutic vaccine developed by HOOKIPA Pharma and Gilead Sciences, has been shown to generate robust T cell responses specific to hepatitis B virus with high antibody levels in a preclinical setting. A Phase I clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of HB‑400 in humans is ongoing. Gilead is solely […]

The DDW Turning Science into Business Summit, ‘Cancer research opportunities and advances’ will take place online on 16 November at 7AM PST / 10AM EST / 3PM GMT / 4PM CET. This free summit, sponsored by Taconic Biosciences, will offer expert thought leadership on cancer research, precision medicine and immunotherapy. One of the key presentations […]

The UK’s University of Oxford is taking the lead on two collaborative international projects to improve the response to new Covid-19 variants and contribute to future pandemic preparedness. Researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in the US and the University of Oxford have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool named EVEscape that can predict […]

MinervaX, a Danish biotechnology company developing a novel, prophylactic vaccine against Group B streptococcus (GBS), has announced the completion of €54 million upsized financing.   GBS is a leading cause of life-threatening infections in newborns as well as adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery and stillbirths. Current prophylactic measures provide insufficient protection, meaning there […]

Novavax has become the next company to have an updated version of its Covid-19 vaccine approved in the US. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorisation (EUA) of the Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted, for use in individuals 12 years of age and older to include the 2023-2024 formula. Individuals 12 years […]

The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine has been recommended for use by the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG). Developed by The University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, leveraging Novavax’s adjuvant technology, R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine demonstrates high efficacy with a reassuring safety profile. It […]