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Experimental flu vaccine, developed using mRNA, seen as potential game changer

An experimental influenza vaccine developed using messenger RNA technology appears capable of inducing what should be a protective immune response against all known subtypes of flu, at least in animals. If the work is translated into humans it could turn out to be a version of a long-sought universal vaccine.
— STAT (November 25)   (Pocket)  

Inovio drops MERS and Lassa fever vaccines after early trials disappoint

Inovio will stop work on its vaccines for Lassa fever and for MERS after the shots didn’t produce results that were strong enough to take forward in future tests, the company said Thursday afternoon. It’s disappointing news for a company that announced job cuts in July, a tactic meant to preserve resources for its lead DNA vaccine candidates for HPV and Covid-19. Earlier this month, the company reported that it had $282 million in cash, equivalents and short-term investments on the books, down from $401 million a year prior. Inovio had been working on the trials with CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a nonprofit that helps fund and advance vaccine development, among other public health ...
— Endpoints (November 19)   (Pocket)  

Bacteria in tumors may promote cancer

Our bodies harbor countless microbes—and so do our tumors, it turns out. Over the past 5 years, researchers have shown cancer tissue contains entire communities of bacteria and fungi. Now, it appears some of the bacteria may be cancer’s accomplices. In a paper in Nature this week, a team led by Susan Bullman of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center reports that in oral and colorectal tumors, bacteria live inside cancer cells and boost their production of proteins known to suppress immune responses. The microbial interlopers may set off a chain reaction that prevents the immune system from killing cancerous cells, and they may also help cancer metastasize to other parts of the body.
— Science.org (November 17)   (Pocket)  

Gene Set Could Identify Patients With Post-Treatment Lyme Disease

Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Johns Hopkins University have identified a set of genes whose expression patterns could indicate long-term Lyme disease. About 30,000 cases of Lyme disease, which is a tickborne illness, are reported each year to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 10 percent to 20 percent of affected people develop long-term symptoms. In their new study appearing in Cell Reports Medicine, the researchers collected blood samples from more than 150 people with post-treatment Lyme disease (PTLD) for RNA-seq analysis. When they compared the gene expression profiles of the PTLD individuals to those from 72 individuals with acute Lyme disease and 44 uninfected individuals, the researchers uncovered ...
— Genome Web (November 17)   (Pocket)  

Moderna says new Covid booster better against omicron BA.5, triggers immune response against BQ.1.1 - CNBC

Moderna says new Covid booster better against omicron BA.5, triggers immune response against BQ.1.1CNBCData shows Moderna booster more effective than previous against new COVID variants11AliveModerna’s Omicron vaccine shows better immune response than COVID shotsFox NewsHealth experts: Moderna booster effective against Omicron subvariantsWWLP-22NewsLong Island experts hopeful over Moderna's new COVID-19 boosterNewsday
— CNBC (November 16)   (Pocket)  

New Covid Booster Strengthens Immune Response Against Subvariants, Moderna Says

A study suggested that the updated booster shot produced higher levels of neutralizing antibodies against BA.4 and BA.5 than the first booster, the company said.
— New York Times (November 15)   (Pocket)  

Moderna says new booster increases protection against omicron subvariants - The Washington Post

Moderna says new booster increases protection against omicron subvariantsThe Washington PostModerna's Omicron shots shows better immune response than original COVID vaccineYahoo! VoicesNew Covid Booster Strengthens Immune Response Against Subvariants, Moderna SaysThe New York TimesMore adverse reactions following bivalent COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccineNews-Medical.NetModerna says bivalent COVID-19 booster shot performs better against BA.5 omicron subvariantYahoo! VoicesView
— Washington Post (November 15)   (Pocket)  

STAT+: Northwest Bio study of brain cancer vaccine still falls short

Last Thursday in JAMA Oncology, Northwest Biotherapeutics and its scientific collaborators published the results of a large clinical trial showing its personalized cancer vaccine administered to patients with brain tumors reduced the risk of death by 20% compared to a group of patients taken from “external controls.” The same study results were presented Sunday at a neuro-oncology research meeting, as they were last May.
— STAT (November 22)   (Pocket)  

Vaccine for lethal brain cancer extends the lifespan of patients by years

"The vaccine works by stimulating the patient’s own immune system to fight against the patient’s tumor. It provides a personalized solution, working with a patient’s immune system, which is the most intelligent system known to man," Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, a neurosurgeon at King’s College hospital in London who was the European chief investigator of the trial, told The Guardian.
— Interesting Engineering (November 20)   (Pocket)  

CureVac puts lead oncology candidate on back burner and will only move it forward in combination therapies

CureVac is putting its lead cancer therapy on ice — for now. The trans-atlantic pharma with offices in Boston, MA and Germany put word of the new development in its Q3 earnings report Wednesday. In the context of our current strategic focus on the development of novel mRNA-based cancer vaccines, data from the planned proof-of-principle studies and parallel progress in the discovery of new tumor-specific antigens will provide the basis for any potential integration of CV8102 into this priority program as a strong immune-modulatory adjunct. Further clinical development of CV8102 will only be considered in combination with a defined mRNA cancer vaccine.
— Endpoints (November 19)   (Pocket)  

This Cancer Treatment Actually Works Better After COVID Vaccination - ScienceAlert

Clinicians have been concerned that COVID-19 vaccines would lessen the effectiveness of drugs used to treat nasopharyngeal cancer, a type of cancer that affects the throat, but a new study shows the opposite: The COVID-19 vaccine actually helps with treatment.
— Science Alert (November 12)   (Pocket)  

Experimental cancer vaccine shows promise in animal studies

An experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine induced two distinct and desirable immune system responses that led to significant tumor regression in mice, report investigators from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
— NIH (November 11)   (Pocket)