Recent News

By Category: Policy & Initiatives

FDA Puts Anthrax Vaccine on Clinical Hold Again

(GlobalBiodefense) PharmAthene, Inc. announced this week it has received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its SparVax anthrax vaccine program has again been placed on clinical hold. SparVax is a next-generation recombinant protective anthrax vaccine being developed for pre- and postexposure protection against anthrax infection. The vaccine has previously been evaluated Read More »

December 18, 2013
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Adjuvanted bird flu vaccine approved by FDA

(FoxNews) The first adjuvanted bird flu vaccine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Medical Daily reported. A vaccine adjuvant is a substance added to a vaccine in order to improve the body’s immune response to the drug. The two-dose vaccine, used to protect against the H5N1 strain of bird flu, Read More »

December 9, 2013
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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WHO Statement on the Fourth Meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee concerning MERS-CoV

(WorldHealthOrganization) The fourth meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) [IHR (2005)] concerning MERS-CoV was held by teleconference on Wednesday, 4 December 2013, from 12:00 to 15:50 Geneva time (CET). In addition to Members of the Emergency Committee, two expert advisors also participated1. A number of affected Read More »

December 5, 2013
| Filed under Middle East, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Vaccinations have prevented at least 103 million cases of contagious disease since 1924

(TheVerge) Vaccinations have been credited with some of humanity’s greatest health technological triumphs over disease, including drastically reducing polio around the globe and almost eliminating smallpox entirely. But how many people have been spared life-threatening infections thanks to the introduction of vaccines? At least 103.1 million children in the US alone since 1924, according to Read More »

December 2, 2013
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Public health data to help fight deadly contagious diseases

(ScienceDaily) In an unprecedented windfall for public access to health data, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers have collected and digitized all weekly surveillance reports for reportable diseases in the United States going back more than 125 years.