US scientists hope to produce a peanut that significantly reduces the risk of allergic reaction: so far they have managed to breed a variety that lacks some of the compounds known to cause allergic reactions, and are planning further studies to produce a peanut that lacks more of, if not all of the major allergens, which can produce reactions ranging from rash to severe anaphylactic shock.

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MorphoSys AG has announced that Shionogi & Co Ltd, Osaka, Japan, has elected to expand its current research license to cover the use of MorphoSys’s HuCAL PLATINUM technology in a drug discovery. HuCAL PLATINUM is the latest and most powerful MorphoSys antibody library. During this test period, Shionogi was able to compare HuCAL PLATINUM with its predecessor HuCAL GOLD, and found the new library to be considerably better.

The Texas Sinus Center announced it is now offering the FinESS® Sinus Treatment, a minimally invasive treatment that breaks the cycle of chronic sinusitis (CRS) at Foundation Surgical Hospital of San Antonio. Developed by Minnesota-based Entellus® Medical, Inc., FinESS is an effective treatment that results in less pain, bleeding and recovery time for patients. In most cases, patients are back to their normal routine within hours.

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Allergy immunotherapy, generally referred to as allergy vaccinations or shots, reduce total health care costs in children with allergic rhinitis by one-third, and prescription costs by 16 percent, according to a study published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). Allergic rhinitis is the third most common chronic disease in children, affecting up to 40 percent of the population.

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Johns Hopkins University researchers have created biodegradable nanosized particles that can easily slip through the body’s sticky and viscous mucus secretions to deliver a sustained-release medication cargo. The researchers say these nanoparticles, which degrade over time into harmless components, could one day carry life-saving drugs to patients suffering from dozens of health conditions, including diseases of the eye, lung, gut or female reproductive tract.

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The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus used a new strategy to cross from birds into humans, a warning that it has more than one trick up its sleeve to jump the species barrier. In a report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, researchers show that the H1N1 virus adopted a new mutation in one of its genes distinct from the mutations found in previous flu viruses.

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In indigenous swine flu vaccine is far from ready but India has given the green signal to two foreign pharmaceutical giants to begin human trials of their vaccine in the country. According to the health ministry, India has already placed orders for more than one million doses of swine flu vaccines from GSK and Novartis. But before that is administered, the government wants to ensure that the vaccines are absolutely safe.

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Vical Incorporated has announced that the company addressed an international gathering of pandemic influenza vaccine experts and potential commercial partners to encourage broader use of the company’s DNA vaccine technology and Vaxfectin(R) adjuvant. DNA vaccines can be developed and produced very quickly using scaleable manufacturing processes which are not dependent upon chicken eggs or other cell culture methods.

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Roche Holding AG’s antiviral drug Tamiflu may not prevent complications from influenza in healthy adults, according to a review by an independent research group that reversed its previous findings that the medicine warded off pneumonia and other deadly conditions linked to the disease. The pill has been the mainstay of treatment for pandemic swine flu, which has killed nearly 9,000 people since it emerged in April, according to the World Health Organization.

Madison and the University of Wisconsin are continuing their push to vaccinate students and a targeted group of community members against the swine flu by offering new H1N1 vaccine clinics in the next few weeks. Public Health-Madison and Dane County will be offering H1N1 clinics at six locations in Madison. The vaccines will be given to pregnant women, people who live with or care for infants less than six months old.