International experts in the field of human virus research and vaccine development have teamed up to develop a pandemic influenza vaccine. The aim of the EU-funded FluVac project is to conduct research and development (R&D) into a novel pandemic influenza vaccine that could be used as a potential emergency vaccination. The project partners, recently awarded a grant of €3.5 million under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), plan to deliver a prototype vaccine within four years.

The Commission launches a public consultation on the future of pharmaceuticals for human use in Europe. The pharmaceutical sector has been and remains a key strategic sector in Europe. The future of this sector is a crucial matter for the EU.

Scientists have discovered the brain region which controls whether excess energy should be stored as fat or burned in our muscles. The researchers hope that their findings will lead to the development of new treatments for obesity. The work, which was partly funded by the EU, is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Pfizer and the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD) announced today, at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting, the development of a new awards program which will provide research grants to support European research around understanding and reducing cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes.

SIMID® announced that the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has agreed to provide metadata and full-text articles from its portfolio of medical journals through the SIMID Scientific Medical Information Library Europe (S.M.I.L.E.) database.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced grants totaling $280 million to help fight tuberculosis, an epidemic that infects one-third of people on earth and kills nearly 2 million yearly - mostly in the poorest countries. The 11 new grants will speed research and development on promising vaccines, diagnostic tests, and treatments to help reduce the global TB burden.

Spending on cancer research in Europe is on the up, and Europe is now a major contributor to the global cancer research effort, according to the second cancer research funding survey by the European Cancer Research Managers (ECRM) Forum. However, growing levels of bureaucracy threaten to stifle future research, the report warns.