GlaxoSmithKline

LONDON — British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC on March 12 announced two changes in the executive lineup of its vaccines business.

Fuad El-Hibri

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The World Trade Center Institute announced March 11 that Emergent BioSolutions Inc.’s chairman and CEO has been named as one of Maryland’s outstanding international business leade

An ambitious plan to build a vaccine factory in the Pittsburgh area is gaining momentum with the announcement March 11 of three new partners in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center project, the Pittsburgh Business Times reported.

Kanji Takada, a professor of pharmacokinetics, has developed a round vaccine "chip" measuring 1.5 centimeters in diameter that contains as many as 300 micro needles.

WASHINGTON — Genetically altered mosquitoes that cannot fly may help slow the spread of dengue fever and could be a harmless alternative to chemical insecticides, U.S. and British scientists said Feb. 22.

HIV

The head of an association that represents Canada's HIV researchers is criticizing a federal government decision to scrap plans for an $83.5 million facility that would manufacture potential vaccines.

INDIANAPOLIS — BioCrossroads' Indiana Seed Fund has invested in Bioscience Vaccines Inc. to accelerate the development of biologic materials, which may boost the effectiveness of a wide range of life-saving vaccines.

Politecnico di Milano

LONDON — Italian scientists said Feb. 19 that they had found evidence of how viruses helped change the course of human evolution and said their discovery could help in the design of better drugs and vaccines.

NicVAX

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Nabi Biopharmaceuticals announced Feb. 8 that it has completed the manufacture and transfer of specified materials associated with the sale of the PentaStaph vaccine candidate to GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.

Novavax's viruslike particle vaccines

TEL AVIV, Israel — Novavax Inc. announced Feb. 8 that it ended talks aimed at a collaboration with Rovi Pharmaceuticals of Madrid to develop Novavax's viruslike particle vaccines against influenza in Spain.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's budget proposes a unique new initiative — battling some tropical diseases not just to improve health but as a national security strategy, Reuters reported Feb. 2.

Flu Vaccine

NanoBio Corp. announced Feb. 2 that a sixth U.S. patent covering its novel nanoemulsion technology has been awarded. The patent encompasses composition of matter claims for the company’s lead anti-infective and vaccine product candidates.

SV40

SV40 viruses use an amazing means of communication, in order to be able to penetrate into a cell: fats, whose structure must fit like a key in a lock, ScienceDaily reported Jan. 29.

NEW DELHI — Cadila Pharmaceuticals’ plans to manufacture H1N1 flu vaccines has hit a roadblock as the drug regulator has expressed concerns over the technology to be used.

Smallpox

Giving a vaccine through a scratch on the skin triggers a stronger immune response than injected vaccines and requires 100 times less vaccine to prompt an immune response, HealthDay News reported Jan. 17.

R. Don Elsey

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced Jan. 11 that its chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance and administration has joined the board of directors of the MdBio Foundation.

Stomach Cancer

GOTHENBURG, Sweden — New research at Sahlgrenska Academy might be an important step toward creating a vaccine against ulcers and stomach cancer, The Local reported Dec. 30.

TB

Public health officials are concerned about the implications of the first U.S. case of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis, diagnosed in a 19-year-old Peruvian who is visiting here to study English, Homeland Security Today reported Dec. 29.

DNA

SAN DIEGO — Vical Inc. announced the publication of data documenting the successful pilot lot production and initiation of animal immunogenicity testing of a Vaxfectin-adjuvanted DNA vaccine for H1N1 influenza.

Sanofi-aventis

Sanofi-aventis and Chattem Inc. announced Dec. 21 that they have entered into an agreement under which sanofi-aventis is to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding shares of Chattem in a cash tender offer for approximately $1.9 billion.

Manon Cox

Someday, effective vaccines might be produced two to four times the speed of vaccines manufactured in fertilized chicken eggs, according to a researcher in the Netherlands.

Helicobacter

Human trials are soon to begin on an Australian-pioneered technique that could revolutionize the way we vaccinate — by replacing the syringe with the spoon, the Australian Associated Press reported Dec. 8.

Tuberculosis

CANCUN, Mexico — Health experts called for more research funding to develop better diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs for tuberculosis, which killed 1.8 million people around the world last year.

Malaria

Malaria parasites are able to disguise themselves to avoid the host's immune system, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust and published Dec. 1 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

COX-1

With flu season in full swing and the threat of H1N1 looming, demand for vaccines is at an all-time high. However, researchers suggest that over-the-counter drugs may lessen their effect, ScienceDaily reported Dec. 2.

Anthony Fauci

WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing 97 medicines and vaccines to treat or prevent HIV/AIDS and related conditions.

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo — An unknown epidemic caused three deaths and affected more than 100 people in the last few days in the Republic of Congo.

Jean Stephenne

LONDON -- GlaxoSmithKline announced Nov. 23 that more than 40 million doses of its adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 vaccine have been distributed to countries globally for use in government-initiated vaccination programs.

Flu Vaccine

WASHINGTON -- Novartis will officially open the first next-generation flu vaccine plant in the United States on Nov. 24, but it will be years before it makes its first vaccine.

GENEVA -- The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has informed the World Health Organization of a mutation detected in three H1N1 viruses.

Gov. Martin O’Malley

ANAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley praised Emergent BioSolutions for its upcoming expansion in East Baltimore during his online economic update released Nov. 19.

Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote this commentary, posted Nov. 17, for msnbc.com. He is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md.

Staph Leavenworth Bakali

Genocea Biosciences, a vaccine discovery and development company, announced Nov. 16 that it was named one of BusinessWeek’s “World’s Most Intriguing Startups” for 2009.

Dr. Emilio Emini

WASHINGTON — Pfizer Inc's next-generation Prevnar vaccine missed some of the main goals in a study testing its ability to protect against bacteria that cause ear infections, pneumonia and other diseases.

HIV

The recent failure of an HIV vaccine was probably caused by the immune system reacting to the virus “shell” used to transmit the therapy around the body, according to research published Nov. 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jeeseong Hwang

Medical clinics could benefit from new software created at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where a team of scientists has found a way to improve the efficiency of a pneumonia vaccine testing method.

Alon Monsonego

JERUSALEM — An Israeli researcher working on a vaccine to combat Alzheimer's disease said Nov. 9 that he had made important progress following tests on gene-altered laboratory mice.

Kansas University has been awarded a five-year, $6.85 million research contract with the goal of boosting the effectiveness and safety of vaccines that treat infectious diseases.

Jean Stephenne

LONDON and ROCKVILLE, Md. — GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals have announced an exclusive worldwide option and licensing agreement for a vaccine for the treatment of nicotine addiction.

Fuad El-Hibri

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 55,000-square-foot manufacturing facility from MdBio Foundation and the land on which the facility stands from the city of Baltimore.

Jean Stéphenne

LONDON — GlaxoSmithKline announced Nov. 9 the results from the clinical trial assessing Pandemrix, GSK’s adjuvanted H1N1 influenza vaccine, administered at the same time as the annual seasonal influenza vaccine, Fluarix.

S. Munir Alam

A study of how the most robust antibodies work to block HIV as it seeks entry into healthy cells has revealed a new direction for researchers hoping to design an effective vaccine, ScienceDaily reported Nov. 10.

Ebola

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — U.S. military officials sent a medical team to a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan this week to take blood samples from members of an Army unit after a soldier in the unit died from an Ebola-like virus.

Dr. William Schaffner

PHILADELPHIA — Pregnant women who get the flu vaccine are less likely to have babies who are premature or are small for their gestational age, according to two new studies.

Don Elsey

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced June 15, 2009, that Don Elsey, its chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance and administration, has been named 2009 SmartCFO of the Year by SmartCEO Magazine.

Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi

ROCKVILLE, MD. —Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced that dosing of patients has begun in a U.S. Phase II clinical trial of the company’s single-dose oral typhoid vaccine candidate.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced June 21, 2006, that a former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been named to its board of directors.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Emergent BioSolutions announced positive results from a Phase II clinical study evaluating a simplified dosing regimen for the company’s next-generation single-dose oral typhoid vaccine.