NIH-funded trial of Starpharma's VivaGel microbicide under way in US.

Avantogen (ASX:ACU), formerly known as Australian Cancer Tehcnology, is to team up with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to conduct a preclinical study to develop a new therapeutic vaccine for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2).

For nearly three decades, immunologists have believed that specialised sentries in the surface layer of the skin, called Langerhans cells, alert hunter-killer T-cells to seek out and destroy virus-infected cells.

Infection and inflammation drug developer Biota Holdings has named Peter Molloy as its new chief executive, replacing Dr Hugh Niall who is retiring this year.