Latest news with #virology
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Enanta Pharmaceuticals to Participate in Baird's Biotech Discovery Series
WATERTOWN, Mass., July 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to creating small molecule drugs for viral infections and immunological diseases, today announced that members of management will participate in a virtual fireside chat on Tuesday, July 22 at 1:30 p.m. ET as part of Baird's Biotech Discovery Series. A live webcast of the event will be accessible by visiting the "Events and Presentations" section on the "Investors" page of Enanta's website at A replay of the webcast will be available following the event and will be archived for at least 30 days. About Enanta Pharmaceuticals, is using its robust, chemistry-driven approach and drug discovery capabilities to become a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs with an emphasis on indications in virology and immunology. Enanta's clinical programs are currently focused on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and its earlier-stage immunology pipeline aims to develop treatments for inflammatory diseases by targeting key drivers of the type 2 immune response, including KIT and STAT6 inhibition. Glecaprevir, a protease inhibitor discovered by Enanta, is part of one of the leading treatment regimens for curing acute and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and is sold by AbbVie in numerous countries under the tradenames MAVYRET® (U.S.) and MAVIRET® (ex-U.S.) (glecaprevir/pibrentasvir). A portion of Enanta's royalties from HCV products developed under its collaboration with AbbVie contribute ongoing funding to Enanta's operations. Please visit for more information. View source version on Contacts Media and Investors Contact: Jennifer Viera617-744-3848jviera@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pet cat helps discover a new virus
Pepper the cat is at it again. After his hunting skills helped virologists identify the first jeilongvirus in the United States, the virus-hunting feline has detected a new strain orthoreovirus. It helps that Pepper's owner is John Lednicky, a virologist at the University of Florida College of Public Health. Pepper caught an Everglades short-tailed shrew and Lednicky took the small mole-lake mammal into the lab for testing. Lednicky's research includes studying the mule deerpox virus, so he wanted to look at the shrew specimen for any clues to how this virus is transmitted among mammals. It turns out that the shrew had a strain of orthoreovirus. The viruses in this genus infect several mammal species, including white-tailed deer, bats, and humans. Their effects on humans are not very well understood, but there are rare reports that orthoreoviruses may be associated with cases of encephalitis, meningitis, and gastroenteritis in children. 'The bottom line is we need to pay attention to orthoreoviruses, and know how to rapidly detect them,' Lednicky said in a statement. [ Related: The deadliest viruses in human history, from COVID to smallpox. ] 'There are many different mammalian orthoreoviruses and not enough is known about this recently identified virus to be concerned,' study co-author and UF Ph.D. candidate Emily DeRuyter added. 'Mammalian orthoreoviruses were originally considered to be 'orphan' viruses, present in mammals including humans, but not associated with diseases. More recently, they have been implicated in respiratory, central nervous system and gastrointestinal diseases.' The complete genomic coding sequences for this new virus, officially named 'Gainesville shrew mammalian orthoreovirus type 3 strain UF-1,' was recently published in the journal Microbiology Resource Announcements. Importantly, Pepper has shown no signs of illness, according to Lednicky. 'This was an opportunistic study,' Lednicky said. 'If you come across a dead animal, why not test it instead of just burying it? There is a lot of information that can be gained.' In 2024, Pepper helped detect the first jeilongvirus in the US. He dropped a dead mouse on the carpet at Lednicky's feet, which was also taken into the lab for testing. Jeilongvirus was previously found in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. Unlike orthoreoviruses, it is known to infect more than just mammals, and can make reptiles, fish, and birds sick. It can also occasionally cause serious illness in humans. The virus in the mouse that Pepper found was genetically different from other jeilongviruses and is designated as 'Gainesville rodent jeilong virus 1.' According to Lednicky, it grows equally well in rodent, human, and nonhuman primate cells, 'making it a great candidate for a spillover event,' or when one virus spills from one species into another. The team also recently found two novel viruses in farmed white-tailed deer. Since viruses are constantly evolving and lab techniques have gotten more sophisticated, Lednicky said finding new viruses isn't entirely surprising. 'I'm not the first one to say this, but essentially, if you look, you'll find, and that's why we keep finding all these new viruses,' Lednicky said. [ Related: Finland finds its first giant virus. ] Two different types of orthoreovirus can infect a host cell, similar to influenza. This two-pronged infection essentially creates a new virus by mixing and matching the genes, according to Lednicky. In 2019, this same team isolated the first orthoreovirus found in a deer. That first strain's genes were nearly identical to an orthoreovirus detected in farmed mink in China and a very sick lion in Japan. Scientists were incredibly puzzled how the same hybrid virus could pop up in farmed deer in Florida and two carnivore species thousands of miles away. Some speculated that components of the animals' feed may have come from the same manufacturer. More research is needed to fully understand how orthoreoviruses move around and are transmitted, their prevalence in humans, and how sick they could make people. Future serology and immunology studies could help the team better understand the threat of orthoreoviruses including the one a black cat helped scientists find.
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Cambridge faces backlash for axing top Covid expert
The University of Cambridge is facing a backlash over its decision to lay off a leading virologist who helped guide Britain through the Covid pandemic. Dr Chris Smith, the host of The Naked Scientists podcast, was told earlier this month that he was being made redundant. The university has said the closure of the post was necessary both to save costs and because it did not align with Cambridge's outreach strategy. However, Dr Smith said The Naked Scientists podcast, which he launched 24 years ago and has surpassed 150 million downloads, is a highly effective form of outreach. The programme aims to increase public understanding of science and frequently highlights the work of Cambridge researchers. Listeners from as far afield as Australia have begun petitioning the university after Dr Smith shared news of the proposed redundancy. Podcast 'may be in jeopardy' In a statement, he said: 'I have been informed by the University of Cambridge, my employer for whom I have worked loyally for over 20 years, that on the grounds of cost-cutting they intend to make me redundant, imminently. 'This potentially jeopardises The Naked Scientists, which is produced under my university role and means the team under me are also under threat. 'As if that isn't bad enough, as it stands – and I have nothing concrete to say otherwise – I will also lose my current medical consultant job, because this is contingent on my university employment. 'Why I am so desperately hurt by this decision is that it completely fails to recognise the huge, multi-award winning effort that I have put in over many years to raising the profile of science, technology and medicine originating from Cambridge University, for a truly global audience.' Dr Smith's role combines lecturing at the university's Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) and working as a consultant virologist at Addenbrooke's, the university's teaching hospital. Since 2014, he has been a public understanding of science fellow. Cambridge needs to cut costs to tackle a £53 million deficit, which the university's internal watchdog blamed in part on 'a lack of budgetary control'. In a letter to Dr Smith, the university also said that 'profile-raising and conversion of applicants to fee-paying courses' at ICE must be concentrated in its own 'external engagement division'. Dr Smith said: 'There are people studying science at Cambridge University because of The Naked Scientists. Over the pandemic, I gave 2,500 interviews to media all over the world on behalf of Cambridge University.' Listeners, including fellow scientists and science teachers, have sent letters of complaint to Cambridge protesting against the proposed redundancy. One said that his daughter had been inspired by the podcast to study science at A-level and hoped to gain a place at Cambridge to study veterinary medicine. Another wrote: 'In a world where science is being persecuted, particularly abroad, the last place I thought I'd see this is Cambridge University.' A spokesman for the University of Cambridge said: 'The Naked Scientists podcast is a separate entity that the university neither owns, controls nor has any direct influence over. 'The University of Cambridge is currently consulting with Dr Chris Smith about the future of his role with the university.'
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Kent 'perfect place' for new mosquitos to enter UK, academic says
A virology researcher says Kent is a "perfect place" for new mosquito species to become established in the Jonathan Ball from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine told BBC Radio Kent that more exotic mosquito species are making "a northward charge"."We suspect that as our climate warms, these mosquitos will increase their range and that will include southern parts of Britain," he Ball was speaking after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on 21 May it found West Nile virus fragments in mosquitoes captured in Nottinghamshire in 2023. The UKHSA says the risk to the general public of West Nile virus is "very low" and there is "no evidence to suggest ongoing circulation of the virus" in UK mosquitos or Nile virus typically causes either very minor symptoms or none at all, but can sometimes make people seriously virus - found in many parts of the world, including Africa, South America, and mainland Europe - can kill in rare cases through serious brain human cases of West Nile virus have been acquired in the UK, but seven cases of the disease linked to travel abroad have been recorded since specific treatment or vaccines exist for virus fragments were found in Aedes vexans mosquitos, which Prof Ball says is "that pesky mosquito that you sometimes find in woodlands next to small shallow puddles".He added: "We know that these virus can often replicate in different insect species. They're pretty promiscuous in terms of the insects that they can replicate in." Prof Ball urged the public to "try and avoid" mosquito bites, which can happen at all times of day, by "covering up or using a good insect repellent".Howard Carter, the creator of Incognito insect repellent, said "a lot of people do get bitten" in Kent and that Brits "do not take enough precautions when they go abroad" either."Kent residents, more than any other county" need to take precautions, he told BBC Radio Kent on Wednesday, because "one day either Dengue or West Nile virus will be in the UK and that's an outbreak".
South China Morning Post
27-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
German scientist wins Hong Kong's Shaw Prize for pioneering 3D imaging work
A German molecular biologist has won Hong Kong's prestigious Shaw Prize this year for his development of a cutting-edge imaging technology that helps scientists understand how viruses attack the human body and come up with new treatments. Professor Wolfgang Baumeister, director emeritus and scientific member of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, was on Tuesday named one of the winners of the Shaw Prize, dubbed the 'Nobel Prize of the East'. Baumeister was awarded the 2025 Shaw Prize in life science and medicine for his pioneering development and use of cryogenic electron tomography, or cryo-ET, an imaging technique that enabled 3D visualisation of biological samples such as proteins. 'In general, there are three areas that benefit most from this cutting-edge technology: virology; cancer treatment and diagnostics; and study in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's,' said Shaw Prize Council member Professor Justin Wu Che-yuen, the associate dean of health systems at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's medical faculty. He said the technology helped scientists understand how viruses attacked the human body and to develop new treatments, such as vaccines. In terms of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, the technology revealed how abnormal proteins accumulated in cells, how the proteins interacted with other cellular components and how they responded to current treatments. This understanding could lead to new early detection strategies and therapeutics, Wu said.
