outbreak

SPOTLIGHT: GAO questions antidotes for pandemic

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:59:53 -0500

The GAO says that a pandemic vaccine can offer little help during the crucial initial stages of an outbreak. The Department of Health and Human Services has estimated that it would take 20 to 23 weeks to develop and manufacture a vaccine targeted at a specific strain. And increasing access to antivirals--the second key strategy for dealing with a pandemic--would demand construction of new facilities and fresh sources of production material. FierceVaccines

ALSO NOTED: Flamel inks licensing deal;Alfacell trial hits a milestone; and much more...

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:59:50 -0400

> France's Flamel Technologies gets an undisclosed upfront payment and a schedule of potential milestone payments after signing a licensing and development deal with Wyeth for using its technology to deliver a marketed protein. Release

> Alfacell Corporation has confirmed that 290 evaluable events--patient deaths--have occurred in the Phase IIIb clinical trial of its lead compound, ONCONASE, for unresectable malignant mesothelioma. Release

> Prana Biotechnology has raised $7 million in a private placement. Release

> What's a generic drug company to do? A federal judge refused Wyeth's request for an injunction against the launch generic Protonix, and Teva could start selling. But if Wyeth wins the patent case, then Teva would have to fork over three times its sales. Report

> An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK has been contained after a government report pinned the blame for the outbreak on leaky pipes at the Institute for Animal Health's Pirbright site. Report

> The NIH has doled out $438 million for daring research projects. Report

> And Finally... Venture capitalists bet big on nanotechnology. Report

New investigation underscores distrust of China

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

A group of experts has flown to China to investigate a recent outbreak of a virus afflicting the country's pigs. That move underscores the lingering concerns that China is still failing to be open about the diseases that start there and have the potential to spread around the world.

- read the The Wall Street Journal article (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
China pushes drug development as R&D soars. Report
China drug czar executed for corruption. Report
China to overhaul drug safety regulations. Report
Bridge Pharma sees growth in China drug studies. Report

UK lab denies involvement in deadly outbreak

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 06:59:56 -0400

A UK lab jointly owned by Merck and Sanofi-Aventis insists that there is no evidence that it played any role in a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, despite an initial report from a regulatory group that they were the likely culprits in the case. Merial Animal Health says that its own investigation has given it "complete confidence" in its compliance on safety issues. Investigators, though, say that the strain of foot-and-mouth disease found in nearby cattle is the same strain that the lab has been working on. And government officials say that they will have to investigate whether the outbreak was a deliberate act of sabotage. A farmers' group says they may sue.

- see Merial's response to the accusations
- here's the article from The Guardian

Deadly TB strain may be spreading fast in Africa

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:01:36 -0500

An outbreak of a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in South Africa is raising concerns among a group of health experts that the disease has already spread in the region, raising fears of an epidemic that could threaten the lives of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. South African officials insist that they have the situation in control, but TB experts say that the government has been slow to respond after 52 of 53 TB infection patients in one clinic died from the strain a year ago. Of particular concern is the affect of the TB strain in an area of the world already afflicted with high rates of HIV as well as tuberculosis. Physicians say they don't know how to stop that form of TB.

- read The New York Times report

Related Article:
The challenges of infectious disease. Report

ALSO NOTED: Blue Heron appoints new CEO; Isis receives milestone payment; and much more...

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:01:30 -0500

> Australian-based Peptech has announced that it has acquired the antibody assets of UK-based Scancell through its newly established U.K. subsidiary, Peptech UK. Report

> Chutes & Ladders: Blue Heron Biotechnology has named John Fess CEO. Mr. Fess succeeds John Mulligan, Ph.D., Blue Heron's founder who will become the company's board chairman and Chief Scientific Officer. Release

> Isis has received a $1 million milestone payment from Merck for initiating clinical trials of a new compound. Report

> China Health Holdings said it will acquire 51 percent or more ownership of China-based Xi'an Chunhui Pharmaceuticals. Release

And Finally... An outbreak of E. coli in New Jersey has been linked to Taco Bell restaurants. Report

Morgellons: New disease or mental illness?

Maureen Martino — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:28:41 -0400

If you haven't heard of Morgellons disease, you may soon. Fueled by a popular website outlining its symptoms, thousands of patients are reporting that they have the as-yet undocumented illness. Patients claiming to have Morgellons flooded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has launched an investigation of the phenomenon. The CDC plans to conduct its investigation in California, which along with Texas and Florida has served as a focal point for alleged disease. The symptom list proposed for Morgellons includes slow-healing sores, a sense of things crawling under the skin, fatigue and joint pain. To date, physicians have not been able to detect a unique cause for the symptoms, though many patients do test positive for Lyme disease. Some are suggesting that mental illness, not an infectious disease, is causing these symptoms, which also fit the pattern for a mental illness known as delusional parasitosis. They suggest that the outbreak is generated by Internet-fueled hysteria and picked up by emotionally susceptible patients. Get more information on Morgellons: - read this New York Times Article

Indonesia identifies new clusters of avian flu cases

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Indonesia is investigating what could be two new clusters of bird flu victims, including one that is in the same area where seven family members were recently wiped out in one of the most alarming clusters seen yet. Researchers began to look for human victims of the disease when they discovered several dead birds in the area. The virus has not been confirmed in the new clusters, but Indonesian health officials are treating it as H5N1 pending lab confirmation.

- see this article on Indonesia from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

ALSO: A new outbreak of bird flu in Thailand is fueling fears in that part of the world as well. Article

Vaccine industry regains its luster for investors

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 20:01:38 -0400

With Novartis poised to win control of Chiron on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the sudden popularity of the vaccine business. Long considered a marginal endeavor, new fears of a possible pandemic have boosted government spending and helped make vaccine makers look more attractive than ever. Also driving this trend are new technologies that promise to make manufacturing vaccines much less complex. New investments should help avert any repeats of Chiron's debacle two years ago when UK regulators forced the company to temporarily shut its UK facility.

- here's the Wall Street Journal report on vaccines (sub. req.)

ALSO: The government's nearly completed bird flu pandemic plan is calculating that up to 90 million Americans could be infected and two million could die from a potential outbreak. Article

GSK upbeat on bird flu vaccine trials

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:01:37 -0500

The race for a new vaccine to fight a human outbreak of H5N1 has heated up as GlaxoSmithKline says it has begun human trials of two experimental bird flu vaccines. Researchers have made this new vaccine with an that boosts the vaccine's effectiveness. It is also boosting the hopes of GSK researchers, who believe that the new vaccines may be much more effective at combating bird flu than a competing vaccine that is being advanced by Sanofi-Aventis. Sanofi researchers said earlier this week that their vaccine has proven effective in only its highest dose for half of the patients taking it. GSK believes the adjuvant may also play a major role in making the vaccine effective for slightly evolved viruses.

- here's the Boston Globe article for more

Bird flu money triggers new look at antivirals

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 19:01:37 -0500

The surge of interest in bird flu research has caused a host of researchers to focus on new therapies for viral diseases. While many new programs are getting started to find treatments specifically for a potential outbreak of avian flu among humans, the sudden spotlight is forcing a broad review of therapies for all types of viral ailments. As long as more money flows into antivirals, look for researchers to regear accordingly.

- here's the report from the Boston Globe for more information

ALSO: Novavax has partnered with India's Bharat Biotech to develop a bird flu vaccine for south Asia. Release

PLUS: The rapid spread of the bird flu virus around the globe is stumping the experts. Article

Chiron submits application for bird flu vaccine

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:01:35 -0500

Chiron has submitted a mock-up dossier that seeks outline approval to market a pandemic flu vaccine. Under European guidelines, a drug maker can file a mock-up vaccine in advance of an outbreak. Once the outbreak occurs, the drug maker modifies the application with the strain that is responsible for a pandemic. Chiron is the second biopharma company to file for outline approval. GlaxoSmithKline filed last December.

- here's the report from AFX for more information

ALSO: Niger has confirmed finding the H5N1 virus in a small village. Health officials believe the virus is likely to spread rapidly in Africa, a continent with few resources to combat the spread of disease. Report

Countries contribute $1.9B to avian flu war chest

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:01:37 -0500

A group of countries led by the U.S., Japan and EU nations has committed $1.9 billion to the fight against avian flu. The sum should make it easier for poor countries to fight the spread of H5N1 through grants rather than new loans. Alarms over the possible mutation of the virus into a disease that can be communicated from human to human continue to grow. One scientist recently noted that evidence the disease may have mutated into a somewhat less lethal form may well be a new sign of concern, as some experts believe the virus would have to become less deadly in order to spark a global pandemic.

- read this article from The New York Times for more

ALSO: Singapore healthcare officials are planning to simulate an outbreak of bird flu to test the country's readiness. Report

Avian flu sparks shakeup in the vaccine world

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 19:01:39 -0500

Avian flu has been spreading slowly for more than two years now, but this year marked its elevation to above-the-fold headline treatment after President Bush started talking about using troops to enforce any possible quarantines that might be needed to contain a human outbreak of the disease. Since then, practically every new day has brought a fresh raft of news on the subject, and much of it shows the drug development world at its best. Only days ago, Sanofi-Pasteur disclosed that it believed it had developed an important new procedure for enhancing the effectiveness of flu vaccines.

The global spread of avian flu has helped drive big changes in the long-moribund world of vaccines. New manufacturing methods aimed at speeding production are being introduced at a time the industry is undergoing a new round of consolidation. Low margins had made vaccines a bad bet for the shareholder-value proposition that underlies our system of business. Now billions of dollars in new government contracts and a sense of urgency to combat nightmare diseases have helped electrify the field. This year marks a watershed in the vaccine business that will long be remembered.

New pandemic surveillance system relies on pets

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 19:01:36 -0500

Purdue University has created a new surveillance system that uses pets to provide an early warning system of a new pandemic or a possible bioterror attack. The program relies on a computerized database of veterinarian records to spot the emergency of symptoms consistent with a super-bug outbreak or attack. Researchers said that pets' faster metabolism makes them more likely to exhibit symptoms early, and a multitude of human ailments originate in household animals to begin with.

- read this article from The Los Angeles Times for more

Bush updates plan to combat avian flu pandemic

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:01:37 -0500

President Bush outlined a new plan to spend $7.1 billion to stockpile medications to combat an outbreak of human transmissible bird flu at a speech at the National Institutes of Health. The thrust of the plan is to prepare the country to identify an outbreak and contain it as swiftly as possible. Bush also discussed efforts to develop cell-based vaccines that can be produced much faster than today's vaccines and stockpile antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza. The country expects to have 4 million doses on hand by the end of the year, less than what the World Health Organization has recommended.

Whatever the country's plans, problems abound. Roche has made it clear that it is already back-ordered more than a year on Tamiflu, and researchers are concerned that there won't be enough antiviral medicine available to blunt the global onslaught of a possible pandemic. A pandemic can only be triggered by a mutated H5N1 virus, which may not be affected by antiviral drugs or any of the vaccines currently in development. The US is also already significantly behind countries like France and the UK, where planning efforts have been far more detailed.

- read this article from CNN for more information

Roche in talks with China to increase Tamiflu production

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 19:01:37 -0500

Roche has initiated discussions with Chinese authorities to jointly produce new supplies of Tamiflu that could be used to help combat an outbreak of human-to-human avian flu. Roche has come under intense pressure to broaden supplies of Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that can blunt the onset of H5N1. Authorities are worried that the disease will mutate into an infectious disease that can spread among humans.

- read this article from Canada.com for more

PLUS: As most vaccine makers focus on a traditional, and slow, method for making vaccines, a few biotech companies are working on a gene-based therapy that could speed up the process. Report

ALSO: NanoViricides is touting an influenza drug that it says can be used against the disease. Release

Australia's CSL buoyed by trials of new avian flu vaccine

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 20:01:37 -0400

Australia's CSL is testing a vaccine for bird flu that will wrap a 400-person clinical trial in February. Researchers at CSL have said that its vaccine should be able to help prevent an outbreak of human-to-human avian flu unless the H5N1 virus undergoes a major transformation in the mutation process. Under a best case scenario, the company has said that it can vaccinate everyone in Australia within three months of approval, up to six months if higher dosages are needed.

- read this article from the Daily Telegraph for more

PLUS: China said on Sunday that it will shut its borders if it discovers a single case of avian flu that is spread among humans. The UK, meanwhile, confirmed that a parrot that died in isolation had been infected with the virus. Report

UK officials brace for 'inevitable' bird flu pandemic

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 20:01:37 -0400

As Romania confirmed that the deadly H5N1 bird flu had been found in its country, UK's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, announced that an outbreak of bird flu in England was a question of "when, not if." That led to considerable speculation about how many people could die from a pandemic. Sir Liam's estimate was 50,000, four times the number that die each season from the flu. He added that the UK had started planning early and was in a better position than most, including the US, for fighting a pandemic. "We can't make this pandemic go away, because it is a natural phenomenon--it will come," he added. "But what we can do is to limit its impact."

- read this report from The Scotsman for more

Bush administration prepares to spend billions on Tamiflu

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 20:01:39 -0400

The Bush administration is considering spending billions of dollars to stockpile Roche's Tamiflu to help fight off a threatened avian flu pandemic. But Democrats in Congress were quick to criticize the administration for being too slow to recognize the threat. They say that European countries and Japan have already ordered the bulk of Tamiflu that is available, leaving the US to pay a premium to follow suit.

- read this story from The New York Times for more

PLUS: Fears of avian flu have reignited interest, and testing, of Birmingham, Alabama-based BioCryst's flu drug peramivir. The drug failed four years ago when not enough active ingredients entered the bloodstream. Now the biotech wants to see if an injectable version will perform better. Article

ALSO: Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said that the world is "woefully unprepared" for an avian flu pandemic. That stark warning was issued as representatives from 80 nations meet in Washington, DC, to try and coordinate plans to contain any potential outbreak. Report