News Releases
493 Results
September 2021
NIAID Scientists Find a Key to Hepatitis C Entry into Cells
September 21, 2021
Understanding Structure of HCV Proteins Could Aid in Vaccine Development
August 2021
HIV Vaccine Candidate Does Not Sufficiently Protect Women Against HIV Infection
August 31, 2021
An investigational HIV vaccine tested in the “Imbokodo” clinical trial conducted in sub-Saharan Africa posed no safety concerns but did not provide sufficient protection against HIV infection, according to a primary analysis of the study data. The Phase 2b proof-of-concept study, which began in November 2017, enrolled 2,637 women ages 18 to 35 years from five countries.
NIH Launches Study of Extra COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in People with Autoimmune Disease
August 27, 2021
The National Institutes of Health has begun a clinical trial to assess the antibody response to an extra dose of an authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine in people with autoimmune disease who did not respond to an original COVID-19 vaccine regimen. The trial also will investigate whether pausing immunosuppressive therapy for autoimmune disease improves the antibody response to an extra dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in this population.
NIH Hamster Study Evaluates Airborne and Fomite Transmission of SARS-CoV-2
August 17, 2021
National Institutes of Health scientists studying SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have defined in Syrian hamsters how different routes of virus exposure are linked to disease severity. Their study, published in Nature Communications, details the efficiency of airborne transmission between hamsters and examines how the virus replicates and causes disease throughout the respiratory system. Their work also shows that virus transmission via fomites—exposure from contaminated surface contact—is markedly less efficient than airborne transmission but does occur.
NIH Makes Substantial New Investment in HIV Cure Research
August 17, 2021
The National Institutes of Health has awarded approximately $53 million in annual funding over the next five years to 10 research organizations in a continued effort to find a cure for HIV. The new awards for the Martin Delaney Collaboratories for HIV Cure Research program further expand the initiative’s 2016 renewal from six institutions to 10, and represent a funding increase of approximately 75 percent.
Monoclonal Antibody Prevents Malaria in Small NIH Trial
August 11, 2021
One dose of a new monoclonal antibody discovered and developed at the National Institutes of Health safely prevented malaria for up to nine months in people who were exposed to the malaria parasite. The small, carefully monitored clinical trial is the first to demonstrate that a monoclonal antibody can prevent malaria in people. The trial was sponsored and conducted by scientists from the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, and was funded by NIAID.
NIH Launches Study of Third COVID-19 Vaccine Dose in Kidney Transplant Recipients
August 10, 2021
A pilot study has begun to assess the antibody response to a third dose of an authorized COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in kidney transplant recipients who did not respond to two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The Phase 2 trial is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
July 2021
NIH Awards More than $20 Million to International HIV Database Centers
July 22, 2021
The National Institutes of Health has renewed grants to seven regional centers that compose the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA), awarding $20.8 million in first-year funding. The 15-year-old IeDEA program efficiently advances knowledge about HIV by pooling and analyzing de-identified health data from more than two million people with HIV on five continents to answer research questions that individual studies cannot address. The grants are expected to last five years and to total an estimated $100 million.
June 2021
Investigational Malaria Vaccine Gives Strong, Lasting Protection
June 30, 2021
Two U.S. Phase 1 clinical trials of a novel candidate malaria vaccine have found that the regimen conferred unprecedentedly high levels of durable protection when volunteers were later exposed to disease-causing malaria parasites. The vaccine combines live parasites with either of two widely used antimalarial drugs—an approach termed chemoprophylaxis vaccination. A Phase 2 clinical trial of the vaccine is now underway in Mali, a malaria-endemic country.
Adjuvant Developed with NIH Funding Enhances Efficacy of India’s COVID-19 Vaccine
June 29, 2021
An adjuvant developed with funding from the National Institutes of Health has contributed to the success of the highly efficacious COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccine, which roughly 25 million people have received to date in India and elsewhere. Adjuvants are substances formulated as part of a vaccine to boost immune responses and enhance a vaccine’s effectiveness. COVAXIN was developed and is manufactured in India, which is currently suffering a devastating health crisis due to COVID-19.
NIH Begins Study of COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy and Postpartum
June 23, 2021
A new observational study has begun to evaluate the immune responses generated by COVID-19 vaccines administered to pregnant or postpartum people. Researchers will measure the development and durability of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in people vaccinated during pregnancy or the first two postpartum months. Researchers also will assess vaccine safety and evaluate the transfer of vaccine-induced antibodies to infants across the placenta and through breast milk.
NIH Scientists Describe “Multi-Kingdom Dialogue” Between Internal, External Microbiota
June 23, 2021
National Institutes of Health scientists and their collaborators have identified an internal communication network in mammals that may regulate tissue repair and inflammation, providing new insights on how diseases such as obesity and inflammatory skin disorders develop. The new research is published in Cell.
Biden Administration to Invest $3 Billion from American Rescue Plan as Part of COVID-19 Antiviral Development Strategy
June 17, 2021
Through collaboration within the HHS, including NIH, NIAID, and BARDA, the Antiviral Program for Pandemics will respond to the urgent need for antivirals to treat COVID-19.
Statement—U.S. Clinical Trial Results Show Novavax Vaccine is Safe and Prevents COVID-19
June 14, 2021
Results from the PREVENT-19 clinical trial show that the investigational NVX-CoV2373 vaccine demonstrated 90.4% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease.
Clinical Trial Evaluating Mixed COVID-19 Vaccine Schedules Begins
June 01, 2021
The National Institutes of Health has started a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in which adult volunteers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will receive booster doses of different COVID-19 vaccines to determine the safety and immunogenicity of mixed boosted regimens.
NIH Launches Clinical Trial of Universal Influenza Vaccine Candidate
June 01, 2021
A first-in-human, Phase 1 trial assessing the safety and immunogenicity of an investigational nanoparticle influenza vaccine designed to provide long-lasting protection against multiple flu virus strains has begun at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Healthy participants 18 to 50 years old will receive either a licensed seasonal influenza vaccine or the experimental vaccine, FluMos-v1.
May 2021
NIH Scientists Find that Salmonella Use Intestinal Epithelial Cells to Colonize the Gut
May 26, 2021
The immune system’s attempt to eliminate Salmonella bacteria from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract instead facilitates colonization of the intestinal tract and fecal shedding, according to National Institutes of Health scientists. The study, published in Cell Host & Microbe, was conducted by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.
Gene Therapy Restores Immune Function in Children with Rare Immunodeficiency
May 11, 2021
An investigational gene therapy can safely restore the immune systems of infants and children who have a rare, life-threatening inherited immunodeficiency disorder, according to research supported in part by the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Statement on World Asthma Day 2021
May 05, 2021
On World Asthma Day, the National Institutes of Health reaffirms its commitment to research to improve the lives of people with asthma. More than 25 million people in the United States have asthma, including 5.1 million children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This chronic lung disease can reduce quality of life, contributes to considerable emotional and financial stress, and is a major contributing factor to missed time from school and work.
April 2021
Trial of Existing Antibiotic for Treating Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia Begins
April 27, 2021
A clinical trial to test the antibiotic dalbavancin for safety and efficacy in treating complicated Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteremia has begun. The trial will enroll 200 adults hospitalized with complicated S. aureus infection at approximately 20 trial sites around the United States. The trial is being sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
COVID-19 Vaccine Responses to be Studied in People with Immune Deficits
April 23, 2021
A study assessing how people with immune system deficiencies or dysregulations respond to COVID-19 vaccination has begun enrolling participants at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The single-site study is led by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and aims to enroll 500 people, 400 with primary or secondary immune system disorders and 100 without such conditions.
NIH Establishes New Childhood Asthma Clinical Research Network
April 23, 2021
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded $10 million in first-year funding to establish a clinical research network called Childhood Asthma in Urban Settings (CAUSE). This nationwide network will conduct observational studies and clinical trials to improve understanding of asthma and develop treatment and prevention approaches tailored to children of low-income families living in urban communities. NIAID intends to provide approximately $70 million over seven years to support the CAUSE network.
Clinical Trial of Therapeutics for Severely Ill Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Begins
April 22, 2021
A new Phase 3 trial to test the safety and efficacy of therapeutics for COVID-19 has begun enrolling patients hospitalized with life-threatening cases of COVID-19, including those with acute respiratory failure.
Statement—Large NIH Clinical Trial Will Test Polyclonal Antibody Therapeutic for COVID-19
April 21, 2021
A Phase 2/3 trial to evaluate a new fully-human polyclonal antibody therapeutic targeted to SARS-CoV-2, called SAB-185, has begun enrolling non-hospitalized people with mild or moderate cases of COVID-19. The trial, ACTIV-2, is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The therapeutic was developed by SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Sioux Falls, South Dakota).
Experimental Antiviral for COVID-19 Effective in Hamster Study
April 16, 2021
The experimental antiviral drug MK-4482 significantly decreased levels of virus and disease damage in the lungs of hamsters treated for SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health scientists. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. MK-4482, delivered orally, is now in human clinical trials. Remdesivir, an antiviral drug already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use against COVID-19, must be provided intravenously, making its use primarily limited to clinical settings.