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Inovio Pharmaceuticals to Present at Investor Conferences

June 3, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

BLUE BELL, Pa.–(Business Wire)–
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in the development of
preventive and therapeutic vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases,
announced today that president and CEO, Dr. J. Joseph Kim will present a
corporate update on its DNA vaccines for influenza, HIV and cancer and its
vaccine delivery technology at the following investor conferences:

Noble Financial Sixth Annual Equity Conference
June 7th, 2010
Hollywood, FL
Presentation: June 7th, 2010, 9:00 a.m. ET
A live and archived webcast will be accessible on Inovio`s website at www.inovio.com.

Ninth Annual Needham Healthcare Conference
June 9 – 10, 2010
New York, NY
Presentation: June 9, 2010, 2:40 p.m. ET

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals is focused on the development of a new generation of
vaccines, called DNA vaccines, to prevent and treat cancers and infectious
diseases. The company`s SynCon “universal” vaccines are designed to provide
broad cross-strain protection against known as well as newly emergent strains of
pathogens such as influenza. Inovio`s proprietary electroporation delivery
technology has been shown by initial human data to be safe and significantly
increase gene expression and immune responses. Inovio`s clinical programs
include HPV/cervical cancer (therapeutic), avian flu, and HIV vaccines. Inovio
is developing its universal influenza vaccines in collaboration with scientists
from the University of Pennsylvania, National Microbiology Laboratory of the
Public Health Agency of Canada, and NIH`s Vaccine Research Center. Other
partners and collaborators include Merck, ChronTech, University of Southampton,
National Cancer Institute, and HIV Vaccines Trial Network. More information is
available at www.inovio.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our
business, including our plans to develop electroporation-based drug and gene
delivery technologies and DNA vaccines and our capital resources. Actual events
or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a
number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies,
clinical trials and product development programs (including, but not limited to,
the fact that pre-clinical and clinical results referenced in this release may
not be indicative of results achievable in other trials or for other
indications, that results from one study may not necessarily be reflected or
supported by the results of other similar studies and that results from an
animal study may not be indicative of results achievable in human studies), the
availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort
to prove safety and efficacy of electroporation technology as a delivery
mechanism or develop viable DNA vaccines, the adequacy of our capital resources,
the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or
treatments for the conditions targeted by the company or its collaborators,
including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost-effective than any
therapy or treatment that the company and its collaborators hope to develop,
evaluation of potential opportunities, issues involving patents and whether they
or licenses to them will provide the company with meaningful protection from
others using the covered technologies, whether such proprietary rights are
enforceable or defensible or infringe or allegedly infringe on rights of others
or can withstand claims of invalidity and whether the company can finance or
devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect
or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of the
company`s technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators,
capital market conditions, our ability to successfully integrate Inovio and VGX
Pharmaceuticals, the impact of government healthcare proposals and other factors
set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2009, our Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2010, and other
regulatory filings from time to time. There can be no assurance that any product
in Inovio`s pipeline will be successfully developed or manufactured, that final
results of clinical studies will be supportive of regulatory approvals required
to market licensed products, or that any of the forward-looking information
provided herein will be proven accurate.

Investors:
Inovio Pharmaceuticals
Bernie Hertel, 858-410-3101
bhertel@inovio.com
or
Media:
Richardson & Associates
Jeff Richardson, 805-491-8313
jeff@richardsonglobalpr.com

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Archived Webcast, avian flu, Blue Bell Pa, collaboration with scientists, Dna Vaccines, Hiv Vaccines, influenza vaccines, Investor Conferences, Joseph Kim, national cancer institute, National Microbiology Laboratory, nyse amex, Pharmaceuticals Inc, Public Health Agency, Public Health Agency Of Canada, Syncon, Therapeutic Vaccines, university of southampton, Vaccine Delivery, Vaccine Research Center

Southampton Varsity evolves new way to assassinate spam

May 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 11 (ANI): As MailScanner, the world’s most widely-used email security and anti-spam system, celebrated its 10th anniversary on 1st May, its developer has just launched ScamNailer, a programme designed purely to spot phishing attacks.

Julian Field, Systems Administrator at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science, first developed MailScanner back in 2000 and since then it has been used in 226 countries and has become a world-leading email protection system; supporting more virus scanning engines than any other with over 1.3 million downloads.

Now, backed by one of the largest corporations on the Internet, Julian has launched ScamNailer.

The programme, which can be downloaded free, tackles spear-phishing, a technique used by spammers and scammers to try to get an individual’s username and password, so that they can then send out millions of spam messages from their email address.

ScamNailer has compiled two lists of addresses which are commonly used in phishing attacks and from these it generates a set of SpamAssassin rules that detect the presence of these addresses, which can be used in MailScanner or SpamAssassin to stop the spear-phishing attacks completely.

“The advantage that ScamNailer has over any similar programmes is that its backer has provided access to a list of phishing email addresses and websites much larger than any other available, so when people download the package, they can block these addresses from their own site,” said Julian.

ScamNailer, which can be downloaded free, is attracting an average of three million downloads a month. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 10th anniversary, backer, Computer Science, corporations, email addresses, julian, Mailscanner, More Virus, Phishing Attacks, presence, scammers, Spam Messages, Spam System, Spamassassin Rules, Spammers, spear, Systems Administrator, tackles, university of southampton, varsity

Scientists to survey huge volcanic flank collapse deposits

May 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 6 (ANI): A team of scientists led by Dr Peter Talling of the UK”s National Oceanography Centre (NOC), currently aboard the Royal Research Ship James Cook, has set sail to map extremely large landslide deposits offshore from an active volcano on Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles.

Active since 1995, the volcano has registered major eruptions and largest volcanic dome collapse occurring in February 2010. These eruptions were monitored on land, and marine surveys were conducted on them.

The survey showed that these collapses caused huge landslides into the ocean to the east and south of the island. Some of these landslides involved over five cubic kilometres of material and travelled underwater for tens of kilometres. They were much larger than even the largest of the volcanic dome collapses since 1995 and probably generated tsunamis, whose magnitude is uncertain.

“We plan to produce the first detailed survey of this type of volcanic flank collapse deposit,” said Dr Talling: “For the first time, we will image flank collapse deposits by collecting three-dimensional seismic reflection data, which will show how huge avalanches were emplaced.”

The objective of the study is to learn if these landslides can trigger even larger-scale failure of the underlying seafloor sediment using seismic reflection data. Sonar images show huge blocks over 40 metres high and 400 metres long scattered across the seabed. They also depict streaks of material deposited underwater during the February 2010 eruption.

The inhabitants of Montserrat have been relocated to the north of the island following the evacuation of the area around the volcano.

A successful survey could mean the ability to predict future hazards such as tsunamis that these huge landslides could potentially generate.

The research represents a collaborative project between the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), the University of Southampton”s School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, IFM Geomar in Kiel and the Institute de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP). (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Collaborative Project, collapses, cubic kilometres, Dome Collapse, dr peter, earth sciences, flank, James Cook, Landslide Deposits, landslides, lesser antilles, Marine Surveys, oceanography centre, research ship, seabed, Seismic Reflection Data, sonar images, tsunamis, university of southampton, Volcanic Dome

”Hair of the dog” may help cure hangover, but increase alcohol dependency

May 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 6 (ANI): Neuroscientists from the University of Southampton”s School of Biological Sciences claim that the “hair of the dog” may cure a hangover but it can also increase alcohol dependency.

Drinking alcohol over a long period of time profoundly affects the brain, which adapts to the intoxicant and causes withdrawal symptoms when consumption stops.

Now, the study boffins investigated alcohol dependency and withdrawal using tiny 1mm long C. elegans worms. Despite the worm”s evolutionary distance from humans, and very simple brain of just 302 nerve cells, it exhibits similar alcohol-dependent behaviours.

The research showed that withdrawal symptoms could be relieved by small doses of alcohol. However, easing the effects can increase dependency.

In humans, the symptoms are manifested in anxiety, agitation and, in extreme cases, seizures. The worms, as video footage shows, also became overactive in alcohol withdrawal and showed spontaneous and deep body bends – a behaviour rarely seen in ”teetotal” worms.

Professor Lindy Holden-Dye, a neuroscientist of the University”s School of Biological Sciences and member of Southampton Neurosciences Group (SoNG), led the study. She comments: “This research showed the worms displaying effects of the withdrawal of alcohol and enables us to define how alcohol affects signalling in nerve circuits which leads to changes in behaviour.”

The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, also showed evidence that a particular class of brain-signalling molecule, the neuropeptide, is required for the chronic effect of alcohol on the worm”s nervous system.

Professor Holden-Dye adds: “Neuropeptides are also involved in chronic alcohol effects in humans and this is leading to new ideas for the treatment of alcoholism, but their precise role is unclear. Our study provides a very effective experimental system to tackle this problem.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Alcohol Dependency, Alcohol Effects, alcohol withdrawal, C Elegans, chronic alcohol, Cure Hangover, drinking alcohol, Effect Of Alcohol, Extreme Cases, Group Song, Hair Of The Dog, nerve cells, Neuropeptide, neuroscientist, Neuroscientists, precise role, teetotal, Treatment Of Alcoholism, university of southampton, Withdrawal Symptoms

Bone Stem Cells can be used to mend damaged hips

March 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, Mar.20 (ANI): Bone stem cells could in future be used instead of bone from donors as part of an innovative new hip replacement treatment, according to scientists at the University of Southampton.

A team from the University’s School of Medicine believe that introducing a patient’s own skeletal stem cells into the hip joint during bone grafting would encourage more successful regrowth and repair.

The grafting technique is used to repair the thigh bone and joint during replacement (known as ”revision”) hip replacement therapy, a procedure in which surgeons introduce donor bone to the damaged area to provide support for the new hip stem.

In this collaborative study between the University of Southampton and The University of Nottingham, researchers will use adult stem cells from bone marrow in combination with an innovative impaction process and polymer scaffolds.

In a two-year study, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), researchers aim to improve the outcomes of this high impact procedure.

“Surgeons currently use bone from donors during bone grafting, so introducing a patient’s own stem cells to create a living cell or material composite would be a totally new approach,” comments Professor Richard Oreffo, an expert in musculoskeletal science at the University of Southampton, who is leading the project.

“This is very much the beginning of a project to investigate the potential for this new technique, but our preliminary work suggests this may have significant therapeutic implications.”

When a hip joint is damaged, part of the thigh bone or femur, including the ball, can be removed and a new, artificial joint fixed to the remaining thigh bone. Revision hip replacement occurs when that artificial joint needs to be changed.

Professor Oreffo will introduce the stem cells to the hip joint using a scaffold, or support structure, which is designed to protect them, and a new impaction process. The polymer scaffolds will be developed by Professors Steve Howdle and Kevin Shakesheff, experts in chemistry and tissue engineering at the University of Nottingham.

Professor Howdle explains: “Building upon strong collaborations with tissue engineering experts, this new grant will allow researchers at Nottingham to take their materials nearer to the clinic.

“This could have great benefits for patients, and also offer a significant cost saving for healthcare authorities; but first we need to verify and build upon our preliminary data.”

“A major part of the work at Nottingham will involve scaling up the supercritical fluid processing apparatus to create larger and more uniform batches of polymer scaffolds for testing.”

Dr Chris Watkins, MRC’s Translation Theme Leader, says: “Resilience, repair and replacement is a priority research area in the MRC’s strategic plan, ‘Research Changes Lives’. This study highlights how a regenerative approach can offer real hope in addressing a significant problem for an ageing population.”

This funding will allow the groups to build on initial studies that show that degradable polymer scaffolds prepared using supercritical carbon dioxide technology can have a dramatic effect on surgical procedures, such as inserting a hip implant in revision hip surgery.

The provisional studies carried out in Southampton show that the polymers can aid bone formation through the creation of a living cell/material composite and aid attachment of the hip implant.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: adult stem cells, Bone Grafting, Bone marrow, collaborative study, femur, High-impact, hip replacement, Impaction, Medical Research Council, MRC, new approach, Polymer Scaffolds, professor richard, regrowth, scaffold, school of medicine, Support Structure, Therapeutic Implications, thigh bone, university of southampton

Common cold, stomach infection can hasten memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 8 (ANI): Getting a cold, stomach or other infections can lead to faster memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients, claims a new study.

The study from University of Southampton, UK, has revealed that people who had respiratory, gastrointestinal or other infections or even bumps and bruises from a fall were more likely to have high blood levels of tumour necrosis factor-a, a protein involved in the inflammatory process.

And were also more likely to experience memory loss or other types of cognitive decline than those who did not have infections or had low levels of the protein.

During the study, the researchers examined cognitive abilities of 222 people with Alzheimer’s disease with an average age of 83.

The findings revealed that people who had high levels of the protein in their blood had memory loss at four times.

In addition, those with high levels of the protein at the start of the study also experienced acute infections during the study had memory loss at 10 times the rate of those who started with low levels and had no infections over the six-month period.

“One might guess that people with a more rapid rate of cognitive decline are more susceptible to infections or injury, but we found no evidence to suggest that people with more severe dementia were more likely to have infections or injuries at the beginning of the study,” said study author Dr Clive Holmes, MRCPsych, of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

“More research needs to be done to understand the role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the brain, but it’s possible that finding a way to reduce those levels could be beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s disease,” Holmes added.

The study appears in journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: acute infections, Blood Levels, bumps and bruises, cognitive abilities, cognitive decline, dementia, dr clive, finding a way, inflammatory process, Journal Neurology, medical journal, memory loss, mrcpsych, rapid rate, stomach infection, study author, Tumor Necrosis Factor, tumor necrosis factor alpha, university of southampton, university of southampton uk

5 last-ditch schemes to prevent global warming disaster (Re-Issue)

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 6 (ANI): A new study by the United Kingdom’s Royal Society has outlined five last-ditch schemes needed to prevent a global warming disaster.

According to National Geographic News, United Kingdom’s Royal Society’s report is the first from a major scientific body devoted to ranking the various proposals for “geoengineering.”

“It is an unpalatable truth that unless we can succeed in greatly reducing (greenhouse gas) emissions, we are headed for a very uncomfortable and challenging climate future,” said study leader John Shepherd, an earth scientist at the University of Southampton in England, in a statement.

Should that future arrive, the society reluctantly recommends seriously considering the following five global-cooling ideas.

Volcanic eruptions can quickly cool the planet by spewing tiny droplets containing sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, where they reflect some of the sun’s rays back into space.

Researchers have proposed fighting global warming with their own “flying volcanoes”-jets or balloons that release similar droplets.

Millions of tons of these droplets would need to be sent into the air every year to cancel out current global warming, at a cost of tens of billions of US dollars, the report estimates.

Even so, the flying volcanoes would be one of the most cost-effective types of geoengineering.

Another idea is the use of computer-controlled ships that could ply the remote seas, pumping out seawater mist, which would encourage low, thick clouds to form. The clouds would reflect sunlight back into space.

It would cost more than a billion dollars to launch a fleet of a few hundred of these ships, according to the new study, a relatively small sum, as geoengineering costs go.

Scientists also propose to put huge mirrors or thin, reflective disks in orbit alongside Earth and block solar rays.

The approaches would be safe, with little in the way of side effects, according to the Royal Society.

The study also determined that since trees pull huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air, planting more forests would be one of the most cost-effective ways of getting the gas out of the air. nother proposal to prevent a global warming disaster is dissolving mountains of rock, which would speed up the natural process of rock weathering, as a way of absorbing CO2.

A big operation for artificial rock weathering would need big mines, and a lot of electricity to chemically split seawater to make an acid that would be sprayed over the rocks. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Earth Scientist, Geoengineering, global cooling, greenhouse gas emissions, john shepherd, last ditch, National Geographic News, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, reflective disks, S Rays, seawater, solar rays, space researchers, study leader, Sulfur Dioxide, thick clouds, Tiny Droplets, university of southampton, unpalatable truth, volcanic eruptions

5 last-ditch schemes to prevent global warming disaster

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 5 (ANI): A new study by the United Kingdom’s Royal Society has outlined five last-ditch schemes needed to prevent a global warming disaster.