HONG KONG — A potent investigational new AIDS drug that has shown promising results as pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV in macaque monkeys, is now being considered for testing in a clinical trial among high-risk individuals in Hong Kong and elsewhere in China.

HONG KONG — A new influenza A vaccine has been shown to be capable of inducing protective immune responses against multiple influenza A viruses in mice. Researchers from the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) collaborated with U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) scientists to develop the new vaccine, which they described in the April 1, 2014, edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as a breakthrough for conventional seasonal flu vaccines that protect against only one or possibly a few viral subtypes.

HONG KONG — Publication of the first comprehensive map of gene activity throughout the human body should play a key role in the identification of those genes involved in disease and lead to the development of new personalized treatments.

HONG KONG – Chinese scientists have developed a human liver cancer cell line that replicates the entire life cycle of both the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, providing a powerful tool with which to study the natural history of these pathogens and help in developing new antivirals and vaccines.

HONG KONG – A biological extract that targets two proinflammatory protein pathways is showing promise against pancreatic cancer and may have potential for the management of several other malignancies, researchers said.

HONG KONG – A collaborative team from Hong Kong and mainland China has discovered an antiviral peptide that is a promising candidate for treating patients infected with the emergent Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, for which there are currently no effective treatments.

HONG KONG – The results of a positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging study in monkeys suggest that the anesthetic, ketamine, may help in the diagnosis of major depressive disorder in humans and development of new antidepressants, report Japanese researchers from the Riken Center for Life Science Technologies.

HONG KONG – A compound derived from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine has been shown effective at alleviating pain in animal studies and may prove to be an effective non-addictive analgesic for relief of acute inflammatory and nerve pain, Chinese and U.S. researchers report.

HONG KONG – A novel class of antitubercular drugs, the indol carboxamides, has been shown safe and effective against clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in preclinical studies, report Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) in Singapore researchers in the latest issue of Science Translational Medicine.

HONG KONG – Two new candidate vaccines against the virulent A(H7N9) avian influenza virus currently circulating in eastern China have been shown capable of inducing immunity in 80 percent to 85 percent of recipients, data from the first two Phase I trials suggest.