HEPATITIS B

A one-of-a-kind chemical compound found in the tissue of dogfish sharks can be used to combat human viruses, according to scientists.

The United Nations will hold a high-level two-day summit beginning Monday to discuss its intentions of tackling the global epidemic, which could reach $47 trillion in the next two decades, if no medical solution is found.

Researchers have shown for the first time that a single intravenous infusion of a genetically engineered virus can home in on cancer, killing tumor cells in patients without harming healthy tissue.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which helped guide the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that funds children who experience side effects from vaccines, has commissioned a report after 17 years that found no link with autism and Type 1 diabetes after taking certain vaccines.

There is a growing group of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children, believing that vaccines increase the risk of autism, diabetes, asthma and other ailments. But a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies concludes that adverse effects are extremely rare.

A report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services helped guide the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides a pool of money to take care of children who experience side effects from vaccines, federal scientists say.

Public health officials say roughly 130 million injection drug users worldwide suffer from hepatitis C, according to a study published online by World Health Organization said on Tuesday in The Lancet, which coincides with 'World Hepatitis Day.'

The World Health Organization (WHO) released data stating that about 1.4 million people suffer from hepatitis A (HAV) alone. Together, Hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) are the leading causes of liver cancer in the world, accounting for 78 percent of cancer related cases. An important aspect of the report states that most people who have contracted the virus are more often than not unaware of the infection.

In a bid to obtain DNA from Osama bin Laden's family, the CIA organized a fake vaccination program in the town where the al-Qaida leader was believed to be hiding.

In the weeks before the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, the CIA had a prominent doctor organize a fake vaccination drive, in an attempt to secretly collect DNA from him and his family.

A group of major western pharmaceutical companies announced that they will significantly reduce the prices they charge for vaccines in the developing world.

The partnership would work towards immunization of millions of children in Afghanistan and Pakistan against deadly diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus and others

Rodman & Renshaw has initiated Biostar Pharmaceuticals with a market outperform rating and a price target of $7, saying that its hepatitis B drug Xin Aoxing could drive future growth for the Chinese Pharma company.