Latest Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Stories

BLUE BELL, Pa., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: INO) announced today that its SynCon® avian influenza vaccine generated protective HAI titers against six different unmatched strains of H5N1 in a phase I clinical trial - a distinct clinical achievement on Inovio's path to develop universal influenza vaccines. By design, Inovio's SynCon® flu vaccine is not matched to any single virus. Importantly, the vaccine generated a hemagglutination...

Connie K. Ho for RedOrbit.com A controversial report regarding avian flu research was finally published on May 3 in the journal Nature. The research, which studies how the avian H5N1 influenza spreads among mammals, had been contested by a government review panel who wanted to stop the report from being published. According to Med Page Today, the study finds four key mutations in a gene of the H5N1 avian flu that helps it adjust to mammals. The debate about the publication of the...

BEIJING, April 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Nasdaq: SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that it has filed its 2011 Annual Report on Form 20-F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2011 on April 12, 2012. The Annual Report on Form 20-F is now available on the Company's website under SEC Filing in the Investor Relations section. The Company will provide a hard copy of its complete...

A panel of US science research experts that had previously barred publication of research on key details of a mutant strain of H5N1 bird flu, reversed that decision on Friday, saying two papers on the research are okay to publish after all. The announcement came after Dutch and US scientists made revisions to the research, and after an extensive review by the US National Science Advisory Board for Insecurity (NSABB). The panel opposed publication of the research in December because it...

It was assumed that H5N1 bird flu is a rare disease that kills roughly 59 percent of the people it infects, but a new US study published in the journal Science suggests it may be more common and less deadly than previously believed. The research could help alleviate concerns of a worldwide flu pandemic that could kill millions and millions of people, sparked by the recent lab creation of a mutant bird flu strain that can pass easily between animals. The World Health Organization (WHO)...

As part of a national collaboration, Oregon Health & Science University researchers are studying specially bred mice that are more like humans than ever before when it comes to genetic variation. Through these mice, the researchers hope to better understand and treat an infectious disease that plagues us year in and year out: the flu. The scientists aim to determine why some people suffer serious illness and even death when infected with influenza while others suffer only mild to...

A World Health Organization (WHO) panel has ruled that a pair of studies detailing how scientists were able to mutate the H5N1 bird flu virus into a strain that could lead to a global pandemic will not be published in the near future, various media outlets reported on Friday. According to Eryn Brown of the Los Angeles Times, a 22-person panel of experts drafted by the WHO decided to extend a moratorium on the research indefinitely, announcing that scientific journals Nature and Science...

LONDON, Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioradar UK Ltd. reported today the fifth instance in which the specific strain and specific location of an influenza outbreak were predicted by the Replikins Count® (number of genomic Replikin peptides per 100 amino acids) alone, one to two years in advance of the outbreak. While the high-lethality H5N1 p B1 gene Replikins Count® increased globally from 2000 to 2010, uniquely in Cambodia it increased markedly in 2009. The previous four...

The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) has explained why it believes the research on H5N1 bird flu should be censored. Two research teams have modified influenza strains to create mutant avian influenza viruses that can be transmitted efficiently between mammals. NSABB said publishing the research in its entirety could potentially cause significant harm to the public. The board said its main concern was that publishing the experiments in detail could...

American Society for Microbiology publishes special commentaries In response to recent actions of the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), which recommended that two scientific journals withhold crucial details in upcoming reports about experiments with a novel strain of the bird flu virus, H5N1, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) will publish a special series of commentaries by prominent scientists, including the acting chair of the NSABB, weighing in on...