Vaccine Market
Swiss authorities have negotiated a 40 percent discount on the price of Gardasil when it's used in a recommended vaccine program for teenage girls. Report [1]
Hanoi officials are once again distributing vaccine supplies to fight a cholera outbreak. Report [2]
Since the approval of a vaccine against pneumococcal bacteria for young children in 2000, rates of invasive pneumococcal disease are down significantly in all age groups, while rates of IPD caused by non-vaccine strains are modestly on the rise. Release [3]
Acambis said it has extended its ChimeriVaxTM-JE vaccine licensing agreement with Sanofi Pasteur. Story [4]
Vaccine Research
Shares of Allergy Therapeutics dipped this week on investors' disappointment that the FDA has yet to lift a clinical hold on its hayfever vaccine trial. Trials for Pollinex Quattro were put on hold last year after adverse events were reported. Allergy says it has enough cash on hand to get through the delay. Article [5]
ALK-Abello says that a late stage trial of its pollen vaccine Grazax demonstrated a 28 percent reduction in symptoms and a 65 percent reduction in the need for symptom relieving medication. Report [6]
The FDA has put a clinical hold on a trial of Dynavax's hepatitis B vaccine after one of the patients contracted Wegener's granulomatosis, a disease that inflames the blood vessels. Report [7]
Medicago announced that its H5N1 flu vaccine, made from an Indonesian strain, provided 100 percent protection in mice against a lethal challenge with live H5N1 viruses of the Vietnam strain. Release [8]
The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund awarded a $900,000 research grant to Kunle Odunsi, MD, Department of Gynecologic Oncology, and his team at Roswell Park Cancer Institute to collaborate on developing a vaccine to unleash the power of the immune system against cancer. Release [9]
Diamyd Medical announced that the Swedish Medical Products Agency has approved the company's application to commence Phase III studies with the therapeutic diabetes vaccine Diamyd. Release [10]