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. today announced a collaboration to accelerate development of a promising type of malaria vaccine.

Numerous pathogens contain an ‘internal time bomb’, a deadly mechanism that can be used against them. After years of work, VIB researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) were able to determine the structure and operating mechanism of the proteins involved. This clears the road for finding ways to set the clock on this internal time bomb and, hopefully, in the process developing a new class of antibiotics.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide and the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research, has announced that it has launched an on-line service for people with type 1 diabetes and their families to easily find information about clinical trials for drugs, treatments, and therapeutics for diabetes and its complications.

Foot complications, such as open wounds and ulcers, can be one of the most difficult ailments for a podiatrist to treat. However, a new wound dressing powder, which acts very much like a layer of skin, is proving to speed the healing time and reduce the amount of pain that a patient suffering from a serious foot ulcer would normally experience. This includes open sores on the feet as a result of inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes or skin cancer.

Scientists in the US have found a way of slowing the growth of ovarian cancer tumors in mice by using nanoparticles to deliver suicide genes to the exact tumor location without damaging healthy cells. They hope a therapy using this method could be tested in humans within the next two years.

An experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) has been withdrawn from clinical trials after it failed to delay progression of the condition in a late-stage trial. Dirucotide, manufactured by Eli Lilly and Co and BioMS Medical Corp, had earlier failed to meet a main goal in a mid-stage study, which tested whether the drug prevented symptoms returning among patients with relapsing remitting MS.

Patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have an increased risk of infection, due to both disturbances in their immune responses and treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. Because morbidity and mortality related to influenza are increased in immunocompromised patients, it is recommended that patients with SLE get annual flu shots, which are safe and do not increase disease activity.

Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM), an emerging biotech company focused on diabetes and obesity, announced today that it has now taken delivery of its first batch of unique SGLT compounds from its French partner TFChem (Rouen, France) for screening and evaluation. “The successful production of these new molecules marks a significant company milestone,” said CEO, Dr. Howard Verrico.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight may be associated with the development of certain autoimmune diseases, particularly in women, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Three studies published on bmj.com examine the merits of conservative versus aggressive treatment policies of women with low-grade abnormal results detected by cervical screening. Together they form the Trial of Management of Borderline and Other Low-grade Abnormal Smears (TOMBOLA).