An assessment by the COVID-19 subcommittee of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has concluded that blood clots affiliated with the AstraZeneca... Read More »
The Symbiotica COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System gained emergency use authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week, making it the first antibody test authorized for use with self-collected dried blood spot samples. The test allows those prescribed... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced a bill Monday aimed at combating straw purchasing and illegal trafficking in firearms to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act would make it a... Read More »
An ongoing Phase 2a trial of a Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been expanded to include adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. While there are still no approved COVID-19 vaccines for children, cases of COVID-19 in children have generally been less... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) recently reintroduced the Federal Correctional Facilities COVID-19 Response Act to revise the prison system’s COVID-19 response. “The COVID-19 outbreaks at federal prisons across the... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) announced this week that it will invest up to $200 million into promising vaccine candidates for SARS-CoV-2 and Betacoronavirus, following a call for proposals. This funding will carry candidates through to clinical proof of concept and forms one... Read More »
Even as the United States reels from a year under the thumb of COVID-19, a new analysis from the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, released this week, warns that without action, the nation remains dangerously vulnerable to another pandemic or biological threat. The report, Biodefense in... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AK), John Katko (R-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), and Rodney Davis (R-IL) introduced legislation Monday designed to mitigate the nationwide physician shortages by boosting the number of Medicare-supported residency positions. The Resident Physician Shortage Act of 2021 would... Read More »
New research from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has found that the deactivating effects of heat and sunlight are consistent across different variants of the SARS-COV-2 virus – the virus that causes COVID-19. In … Read More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has earmarked $3 billion to 64 jurisdictions to bolster broad-based COVID-19 vaccine distribution, access, and administration efforts. The funding allotment would support local efforts to increase vaccine uptake by expanding COVID-19 vaccine … Read More
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden to encourage a reset if the approach towards Iran versus relinquishing sanctions leveraged over the regime. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Todd Young … Read More
Moderna, Inc. is trumpeting the interim results of a phase three trial of its COVID-19 vaccine, which have shown antibodies persisting for six months post-vaccination. These results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, come with some caveats, though. … Read More
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) joined a group of bipartisan Congress members to urge President Joe Biden to request at least $3 billion to fund the adoption of 5G alternatives to Chinese-made equipment. In a letter … Read More
Bavarian Nordic received a new supply order from Janssen Pharmaceutica NV to manufacture and deliver bulk drug substance of MVA-BN Filo vaccine to treat Ebola. The MVA-BN Filo vaccine will be licensed to Janssen as part of its Ebola vaccine … Read More
The specialty vaccine company Valneva SE has issued positive data for Part A of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its inactivated, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001. Officials noted subject to regulatory approval, the company plans to initiate a Phase … Read More
Department of Justice officials said a man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole for attempting to purchase a chemical weapon on the dark web. Jason William Siesser, 46, of Columbia, Mo., pleaded guilty to one … Read More
