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The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative And Crucell Announce Collaboration To Test New Adenovirus-based Malaria Vaccine Approach
The US-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Malaria Vaccine Development Program (MVDP), and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, Nasdaq: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) today announced a collaboration to accelerate development of a promising type of malaria vaccine. Through funding from the USAID MVDP, the partners will conduct studies to determine the effectiveness of Crucell"s novel prime-boost vaccine approach against the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. This approach uses Crucell"s proprietary recombinant adenoviruses (a type of virus associated with the common cold and other mild respiratory infections) to deliver a malaria antigen to the immune system.
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HIV Transmission In Europe Occurs Primarily In Vacation Destinations, Study Finds
HIV in Europe is transmitted primarily in vacation destinations, according to a study published recently in the journal Retrovirology, the PA/Google.com reports. For the study, researchers led by Dimitrios Paraskevis of the University of Athens analyzed samples of HIV-1 subtype B virus, the most prevalent form of HIV in Europe, from 16 European countries and Israel (PA/Google.com, 5/20). The researchers created a family tree of the virus and examined its genetic characteristics to determine how it has evolved.The study found that tourists are more likely to contract HIV in Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain, which are popular vacation destinations. Meanwhile, HIV-positive people in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg are more likely to have contracted the virus outside of these countries. The study also found that HIV-positive people in Israel, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom contract the virus both within these countries and in other countries. In addition, the study found that in Poland the virus spread mainly among residents through injection drug use. "Viruses move around with travelers -- thus health programs within countries should not only target the national populations, prevention efforts must also be aimed at migrants, travelers and tourists -- who are both major s and targets of HIV," Paraskevis said (BBC News, 5/20). Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said that the findings are not a "surprise," adding, "We"ve known for some time with high levels of mobility in the world these days that it"s very easy for viruses to move around. What it tells us is that you can"t limit HIV prevention and support just to permanent residents" (PA/Google.com, 5/20).
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First-of-Kind TearLab Product, Developed By Invetech, Wins MDEA Award
Invetech, specialists in product development and custom automation for the medical, industrial and consumer markets, announced that TearLab Corporation"s revolutionary TearLab Osmolarity System has been recognised for its innovative design with a prestigious Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA). TearLab Corporation retained Invetech to assist with the development and industrial design of its instrumentation. The TearLab Osmolarity system is the first technology that can quantitatively and objectively measure Dry Eye Disease in a doctor"s office in seconds. Dry Eye Disease is a chronic and progressive condition that if left untreated can lead to serious eye damage.
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Proceedings Of NIAID Workshop On Immunity To Malaria Published

Researchers have made progress in developing malaria vaccines over the past few decades, but the goal remains a daunting challenge. Malaria has evolved to thwart almost every aspect of the human immune system. On March 16-17, 2009, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, convened a workshop to encourage more immunologists to enter malaria research and to foster scientific collaborations that may help lead to the development of effective malaria vaccines. The proceedings of that meeting are in the July 2009 issue of Nature Immunology, and available online June 18. Nearly half of the world"s population, or about 3.3 billion people, are at risk of malarial infection, and it causes more than 250 million clinical episodes and one million deaths each year. Anyone can get malaria but pregnant women, young children, and first-time suffers often have more complicated infections. Unlike diseases such as chickenpox and measles, where a single infection offers life-long immunity, bouts of malaria can occur repeatedly. Individuals acquire malaria through the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes infected with any of four species of Plasmodium parasites. To develop a protective malaria vaccine, researchers must identify which of the Plasmodium parasite"s 5,300 proteins provoke a strong immune response. Further complicating vaccine development, the parasite makes different proteins at each stage of its lifecycle. NIAID recognizes that collaboration among scientists of diverse disciplines is necessary to accelerate research in malaria. The goals of the NIAID-supported workshop were to identify research gaps in malaria immunology; address issues that hinder immunologists from conducting malaria research; identify res to facilitate studies of immunity in malaria; and challenge immunologists to join with their colleagues in unraveling the immune mechanisms that protect against or contribute to the development and effects of malarial disease. NIAID is the lead U.S. government agency that supports basic biomedical and clinical research in malaria. The NIAID Malaria Research Agenda and Strategic Plan, both published in April 2008, emphasize the need for improved understanding of host immune responses to malaria parasite infection and the relationship between immune responses and disease pathogenesis. ARTICLE: AD Augustine, et al. NIAID Workshop on Immunity to Malaria: Addressing Immunological Challenges. Nature Immunology DOI:10.1038/ni0709-673 (2009). WHO: Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director of NIAID; or Alison Deckhut Augustine, Ph.D., Chief, Immunoregulation Section, Basic Immunology Branch, NIAID Linda Perrett NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases


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