Chikungunya antibody set to enter clinical trial

A monoclonal antibody against the chikungunya virus developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the first monoclonal antibody encoded by messenger RNA to enter a clinical trial. Moderna Inc., a biotechnology firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that is focused on developing mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, announced the clinical trial earlier this month. The specific antibody against the mosquito-borne […]

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Dengue ‘hot spots’ provide map to chikungunya and Zika outbreaks

Identifying dengue fever “hot spots” can provide a predictive map for outbreaks of chikungunya and Zika—two other viral diseases that, along with dengue, are spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases published the findings, the first confirmation of the spatial-temporal overlap for outbreaks of the three diseases, led by Emory University. “We had hypothesized that we would […]

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