A swine flu (H1N1) pandemic swept the globe in 2009, reaching the U.K. in April 2009. The first infections in the U.K. were brought in by travelers from Mexico. By July 2, 2009, there had been 28,456 cases in the U.K. overall, and 6450 in Scotland. As a result of this, the Scottish authorities put a vaccination program in place for pandemic H1N1 2009 in October 2009, and a team of Scottish researchers have assessed its effectiveness in a paper published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.The researchers looked at records from primary case and hospitals, as well as death certificates and virological swabs. They concluded that the vaccination program protected against pandemic influenza, as 77% of the people who had been vaccinated avoided infection with H1N1. The vaccine also cut the numbers of flu-related hospital admissions by 20%, as well as reducing the numbers of deaths."Our findings help strengthen the international evidence base for the effectiveness of H1N1 vaccination programs and the future distribution of pandemic influenza vaccines," said lead author Colin Simpson of the University of Edinburgh. "However, despite the best efforts to encourage the most vulnerable to be vaccinated, there were low rates of uptake in the very young and pregnant women who were most susceptible to the pandemic."If these techniques could be used to monitor vaccine uptake and effects in real time, this could help authorities and healthcare providers to distribute vaccines more effectively and efficiently.- read the press release
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Sunday, 1 July 2012
Scottish Researchers-Vaccination Program-Pandemic Influenza-H1n1 Flu Virus-Swine Flu
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Economic Development-Genetic Sequencing-Life Technologies-Drug Development-Manufacturing
The use of genetic sequencing in drug development is expanding and Life Technologies ($LIFE) is lining up its pieces to get more of that market with a manufacturing plant expansion in Scotland.The company says that Scottish economic development agencies are providing some help so that it can invest $20 million in its operations in Inchinnan. The expansion will increase production of its GIBCO cell culture products.The company said it expects the site up and running next year and actually shipping products in 2014. It will serve markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. There are currently 500 employees working at its facility at Inchinnan.It didn't disclose the level of incentives provided by Scotland, but Life Technologies CEO Gregory Lucier said the company is "grateful for the support."Life Technologies seems to be reminding potential customers it is in the game after all of the attention has been focused on competitor Illumina ($ILMN) and its back-and-forth battle with Roche ($RHHBY). The Swiss company last week gave up its $6.7 billion, $51-per-share bid for Illumina after its board repeatedly threw up roadblocks to the hostile takeover attempt.- here's the PBR story
- check out Life Technologies' releaseRelated Article:
Roche's bid for Illumina may be kaput read more..