NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Soligenix initiates Phase 2 trial of SGX945 (dusquetide) for Behçet's Disease treatment, aiming to address unmet medical needs with a focus on severe ulcers. The open-label study will enroll 25 patients with mild to moderate Behçet's Disease, evaluating SGX945's efficacy in lesion clearance and quality of life. Dusquetide, an innate defense regulator, has shown promise in previous studies for oral mucositis and may offer significant relief for Behçet's Disease patients.

Italian Ambassador to the US, Mariangela Zappia, highlighted Italy's biotechnology strategy and its strategic relationship with the US during the Milken Institute's 'Future of Health Summit' at Villa Firenze. Italy announced $21 million for Car-X to combat antibiotic resistance. The summit, organized by the Milken Institute, gathered experts to discuss global health issues.

H5N1 in swine in Oregon, serosurvey in farm workers, fatal Lassa Fever in Iowa, WHO's top endemic pathogens list, potential CDC impact under another Trump administration, and Russia's bioweapons lab expansion.

An FDA panel voted 11-3 against recommending sotagliflozin as an adjunct to insulin for type 1 diabetes patients with mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease, citing insufficient data and risks of diabetic ketoacidosis.

Ampersand Biosciences and Trudeau Institute awarded $1,084,824 to study respiratory infections using monoclonal antibodies in ferrets, building on previous collaborations and reagent development for influenza and COVID-19 research.

NIH launches trial to assess safety and acceptability of a rectal microbicide douche containing tenofovir for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men. The study will compare this 'on-demand' method with oral PrEP, enrolling 150 participants across eight U.S. sites.

NIH launches trial to test safety and acceptability of a rectal microbicide douche containing tenofovir for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men. The study, HPTN 106, will compare the microbicide douche with oral PrEP over two two-month periods, assessing acceptability, adherence, and preference. The trial aims to expand HIV prevention options for at-risk populations.

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants evade immune response, prompting research into a broad-spectrum vaccine targeting conserved RBD regions shared by all SARS-like betacoronaviruses. The mosaic-8b nanoparticle vaccine candidate aims to provide cross-reactive immunity against known and future sarbecovirus strains, enhancing pandemic preparedness. Pre-clinical trials show it triggers a broader immune response, addressing challenges like original antigenic sin, and could offer longer-lasting protection against evolving SARS-CoV-2 strains and other sarbecoviruses.

The study at UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital enrolled critically ill COVID-19 patients in the COMET study, obtaining informed consent or waiver of initial consent. A prospective case-control study of hospitalized adults requiring mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 with or without secondary bacterial pneumonia (2°BP) was conducted. Tracheal aspirate (TA) and nasal swab samples were collected and metatranscriptomic RNA sequencing was performed to evaluate host and microbial gene expression. Quality control measures were implemented to mitigate environmental contaminants. Statistical analyses, including differential expression analysis and microbiome profiling, were conducted to compare patients with and without 2°BP.

A randomized clinical trial involving 50 physicians found that using a large language model (LLM) did not significantly improve diagnostic reasoning performance compared to conventional resources. The LLM alone outperformed both physician groups, indicating a need for further development in human-computer interactions to effectively integrate LLMs into clinical practice.