Newsroom

Spritze
News
The human immune system can recognize and eliminate not only germs but also cancer cells. This is why treatments with weakened germs can help the immune system in its fight against cancer. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin have genetically modified the tuberculosis vaccine BCG in a way that it stimulates the immune system more specifically. Consequently, the new vaccine VPM1002 offers much greater protection against tuberculosis. A spin-off company of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig has transferred the results from basic research to clinical application. A clinical study with patients suffering from cancer of the bladder has now shown that a therapy with VPM1002 could successfully prevent the recurrence of tumours in almost half of the patients who had not responded previously to the BCG therapy. The results could lead to the early approval of the drug for the treatment of cancer of the bladder so that as many patients as possible can profit from this quickly.
21.02.2020
Illustration eines Hepatitis-Virus.
News
More than three percent of the world's population (about 260 million humans) are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Worldwide 880,000 humans die each year from the sequelae: liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, there is no cure. The therapeutic vaccine TherVacB aims to cure patients with chronic hepatitis B. A consortium of leading virologists, immunologists and specialized physicians will use a newly designed vaccine as an immunotherapy in a two-year clinical trial starting in 2021. Researchers from the HZI will contribute an adjuvant that increases the vaccine response, and they will bring in their expertise in preparing the clinical trial. The project is supported by the European Union with 10,426,000 Euros over a period of five years and is coordinated by Prof Ulrike Protzer from Helmholtz Zentrum München.
20.02.2020
Theresa Graalmann und Katharina Borst
News
Die erste Abwehrreaktion des Immunsystems auf eine Infektion mit einem Virus ist die Ausschüttung von Interferonen. Diese Botenstoffe, die zu den Zytokinen gehören, lösen einerseits antiviral wirksame Mechanismen in noch nicht infizierten Zellen aus und stimulieren anderseits weitere Immunreaktionen. Wissenschaftler vom TWINCORE - Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung in Hannover konnten jetzt aufklären, welche Bedeutung das von Zellen der angeborenen Immunität gebildete Interferon-gamma für die Kontrolle einer Infektion mit dem Vakziniavirus hat. Ihre Ergebnisse veröffentlichen sie in der Fachzeitschrift PLOS Pathogens.
11.02.2020
3D-Darstellung von Coronavirus-Partikeln
News
At the end of December 2019, the first cases of pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus were reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan. Since then, infections with the pathogen appeared on several continents. Strict measures to control the epidemic have been put in place to stop its further spread. The SORMAS (Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System) app developed at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig is now contributing to this effort. The scientists expanded the mobile information system for disease monitoring to include a module for combating the coronavirus epidemic. The new coronavirus module is available in Nigeria and Ghana, where SORMAS is already in use. It can be implemented in any other country that wants to use SORMAS in the future.
04.02.2020
Elektronenmikroskopische Aufnahme von Staphylococcus aureus
News
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria are one of the greatest threats to global health. In order to alleviate this problem, researchers explore new applications for already existing antibiotics in addition to the search for new active substances. Until now, the antibiotic mupirocin could only be applied locally to treat skin infections. Encapsulating the drug into nanoparticles would enable to broaden its range of applications. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, together with colleagues at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, have shown that nanotechnology enables a systemic application of mupirocin. The study was published in the Journal of Controlled Release.
03.01.2020
Rasterelektronenmikroskopische Aufnahme von intakten MRSA
News
The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus can be part of the normal bacterial population inhabiting our body, but can also cause serious infections. This bacterium has often developed resistance to standard antibiotics or even multi-resistance to several antibiotics such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Particularly in hospitals, MRSA is often the cause of severe and difficult-to-treat infections. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new drugs that can effectively treat MRSA infections. In order to shorten the lengthy and expensive development process, scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have used an innovative approach to antibiotic development. The researchers used chemical synthesis to significantly improve the antimicrobial properties of an approved cancer medicament that also has a moderate killing activity on MRSA. The resulting molecule, named PK150, is highly effective against MRSA infections without the development of resistance. The results are published in the journal Nature Chemistry.
16.12.2019

HZI in the media

... “, sagte die Leiterin der Epidemiologie am Braunschweiger Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung.

 

Lange betonte, flächendeckende ...

28.11.2025
|
Evangelische Zeitung

... ein Zentrum für Quantentechnologie entstehen und das Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung ausgebaut werden.

 

Mehr ...

27.11.2025
|
Tagesschau

Euro werden investiert in die Erweiterung des Helmholtz-Instituts für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS). Und ...

27.11.2025
|
ZEIT online

s drug tolcapone. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University.

 

The

26.11.2025
|
Medical Xpress

... erhielt das Projekt „Citrapeutics“ vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig eine Förderung in Höhe ...

25.11.2025
|
Bionity.COM

led by Hannover Medical School (MHH) and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) has now discovered clear molecular signatures for

24.11.2025
|
Medical Xpress

Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover (MHH) und dem Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI), hat nun eindeutige molekulare Signaturen ...

24.11.2025
|
DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

Braunschweig. Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) bringt anlässlich seines 60. Jubiläums seine Forschung vom 3. ...

22.11.2025
|
Regional Heute

Universität Hannover (LUH), dem Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig, der Technischen Universität Braunschweig ...

21.11.2025
|
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover

... 38100 Braunschweig Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung: Wissenschaftler:innen am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ( ...

20.11.2025
|
Bochumer-Zeitung

Dr. Dunja Bruder ist Forschungsgruppenleiterin am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig und zugleich Professorin für

20.11.2025
|
Bilanz

... Wissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und der Medizinischen Hochschule ...

19.11.2025
|
Rheinische Post

Register now for the HZI-Newsletter