Dear Reader,
Cancer vaccine and immunotherapy R&D represents a particularly interesting and active field, and Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (HV&I) is pleased to feature a series of commentaries on this topic. Dr Michael G. Hanna, founder and chairman of Vaccinogen (Frederick, MD USA), and Dr Alex Kudrin, Consultant in Pharmaceutical Medicine (London, UK), have served as Guest-Editors and contributors for this series. The first group of commentaries on “Phenotypic and antigenic heterogeneity of cancer, technology platforms for products, and lessons learned for cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics” was published in our August issue. The current issue features a further series of commentaries on “Global regulatory challenges in development and approval of cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics” as well as on “Commercial and reimbursement challenges with cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics.” In addition to the Guest-Editors, Jorge Camarero and Sol Ruiz (Spanish Medicines Agency, Madrid, Spain) and Bengt Jönsson (Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden) share their experience in the field of cancer vaccine development in commentaries as part of this Special Focus.
Furthermore, we are pleased to feature the portrait of Dr William Strohl in our monthly portrait series. As Vice President and Head, Biologics Research at Janssen Biotech, Dr Strohl leads different successful antibody discovery programs, which have resulted in several new biologics early development programs in inflammation and oncology. Read his essay to learn more about his research interests and professional development. If you would like to nominate a colleague for a future portrait, please contact the Acquisitions Editor Eva Riedmann ([email protected]).
In our monthly News, Policy and Profiles (NPP) section, we provide you with a selection of the latest news in the field of vaccines and immunotherapeutics. In this section we also regularly publish Profiles of companies and organizations active in vaccinology and/or immunotherapy. In addition, our NPP section features opinion pieces on timely, interesting or controversial topics in the field of vaccines and immunotherapy, like the commentary by Dr Anne De Groot entitled: “Of [Hamsters] and Men: A New Perspective on Host Cell Proteins” in the current issue. Please contact the Acquisitions Editor with your suggestions for our NPP section.
Finally, we want to remind you that HV&I has recently lowered its open access (OA) fees significantly. The cost to make an original research paper OA is $750. For all other types of papers, the OA fee is $500. With this step we want to acknowledge that many scientists wish for free access to and distribution of published articles.
HV&I offers several popular web site features to our readers: Subscribe to our RSS feed to see the latest published papers and “Like” us on facebook for daily updates. With our iPad application you can read the full issue of HV&I anywhere, just as you would the print issue.
Sincerely,
Ronald Ellis PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Eva M. Riedmann PhD
Acquisitions Editor