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About 75% Of People In Rwanda Who Have Experienced Discrimination Are HIV-Positive, Survey Finds
A recently released survey on stigma in Rwanda indicates that at least 74% of people in various segments of society who have experienced discrimination are HIV-positive, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports. The discrimination often is in the form of isolation from family and physical harassment, according to the survey. The study was conducted by the Association of Vulnerable Widows Infected and Affected by HIV and AIDS in conjunction with the Network of People Living with HIV and UNAIDS Rwanda. It found that although 87% of respondents reported never having been denied health services, 88% reported being denied other social services, such as family planning, because of their HIV status. An estimated one-third of respondents reported that their rights had been abused because of their HIV-positive status. Chantal Nyiramanyana, AVVAIS president, said, "We conducted this survey as a way of providing basis for advocacy, policy change, and programmatic interventions by the government and other interested bodies to address stigma and discrimination related to HIV." The survey found that other groups experiencing stigma in the country include commercial sex workers and asylum seekers (Kwizera, New Times/AllAfrica.com, 5/27).

Osmetech Submits Swine Flu Test To The FDA
Osmetech (LSE:OMH) announced that it has submitted a request to the US FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its Respiratory Pathogen Test Panel test to be used to screen for the swine flu virus.
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Prospect Therapeutics, Inc.'s GCS-100 Inhibited Blood Vessel Formation In A Variety Of Cancer Models
Joseph F. Finn, Jr., C.P.A. ("Finn"), announced today that there has been promising initial interest from pharma companies in the intellectual property of Prospect Therapeutics, Inc. ("Prospect").
Endocrinology

Inovio Biomedical H1N1 Influenza DNA Vaccines Demonstrate 100% Responses Against Swine Flu In Vaccinated Pigs

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex:INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that the company"s SynCon™ H1N1 influenza DNA vaccines achieved protective antibody responses against H1N1 swine influenza virus (A/Swine/Iowa/35233/1999) in 100% of pigs immunized with a two-dose vaccine regimen. Dr. Niranjan Sardesai, Senior VP, Research & Development, presented the data at the Annual Conference of DNA Vaccines in Asia 2009 held in Beijing, China, July 9-10, 2009, in a presentation entitled, "Pandemic and Seasonal Influenza DNA Vaccines Delivered Via Electroporation." In this study, scientists immunized pigs with consensus H1N1 influenza DNA vaccine candidates on day 0, day 14, and day 28. Sera collected on day 28 and day 42, after two or three doses of vaccine, respectively, showed hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers above the protection threshold in 100% of the vaccinated animals against a swine H1N1 virus previously isolated from pigs. On-going additional animal studies are testing the ability of Inovio"s SynCon™ human H1N1 and swine H1N1 based vaccines to cross-protect from currently circulating human and swine H1N1 viruses as well as the new influenza A/H1N1 of swine origin. In a similar collaborative study with scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory of the Public Health Agency of Canada and the University of Pennsylvania, Inovio previously demonstrated that mice immunized with Inovio"s SynCon™ H1N1 DNA vaccine provided 100% protection in a lethal challenge study against an unmatched H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed over 40 million people worldwide. Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio"s CEO, said, "Our innovative SynCon™ technology has the potential to protect people from influenza strains not exactly like the ones that make up the existing vaccines. This is a clear advantage for our universal flu program over conventional influenza vaccines. We are pleased to report our H1N1 preclinical results using pigs, a more natural model for the current influenza pandemic. We look forward to advancing our SynCon™ universal flu vaccine program toward clinical investigation." Inovio"s novel SynCon™ technology enables the company to design DNA-based vaccines with the potential to protect against unmatched sub-types and strains of pathogens. Inovio has created SynCon™ DNA vaccines based on influenza HA, NA, and NP proteins that are common to strains H1N1, H2N2, H3N2, and H5N1, which make up the majority of seasonal and pandemic influenza. Using a designer approach, Inovio can formulate these DNA plasmids together to rapidly develop a universal influenza vaccine potentially targeting all these strains. The resulting vaccine could target seasonal as well as pandemic-potential influenza strains such as avian influenza and swine flu, which has already been designated pandemic status. Significantly, being based on a common set of antigens derived from a broad range of flu strains, such a universal vaccine would have the potential to provide greater protection against evolving, unmatched flu strains. Inovio Biomedical Corporation


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