Government
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker filed a bill to help the state combat mosquito-borne diseases like Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and the West Nile Virus (WNV).
The legislation -- An Act to Mitigate Arbovirus in the Commonwealth – would empower the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) is working with Hememics Biotechnologies to develop a rapid antigen and antibody test to identify the COVID-19 coronavirus in 60 seconds.
The test will be designed to detect the SARS-CoV-2 antigen, which causes COVID-19, from nasal... Read More »
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has forwarded correspondence to President Donald Trump, encouraging efforts to provide COVID-19 patients the right to try hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the course of their diagnosis.
Johnson is seeking to have the president issue a directive to remove the Food and Drug... Read More »
Invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has entered a new, $336 million contract with General Electric (GE) that will see 50,000 ventilators supplied to the government by July 13.
"The President promised on March 27 that we would have 100,000... Read More »
Moderna is working toward U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensure on an mRNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- with a $483 million award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
“Vaccines are a critical tool for saving lives... Read More »
Congressional legislators on Friday introduced two bipartisan bills in the U.S. House of Representatives to bolster the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), the nation’s repository of antibiotics, vaccines and other critical medical supplies that has been strained by the current coronavirus... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is partnering with the American Red Cross (ARC) to recruit blood donors who have recovered from COVID-19.
BARDA and the ARC are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect convalescent plasma for use as a... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seeking to temporarily amend H-2A requirements to help U.S. agricultural employers during the coronavirus emergency.
The H-2A program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the country to fill temporary agricultural jobs.
The rule... Read More »
Citing an increased need for medical staff to handle the surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) are encouraging the waiving of restrictions on doctors with employment-based visas.
The legislators said the restrictions prevent the doctors from... Read More »
Efforts begun on a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in February are moving closer to fruition for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Sanofi Pasteur, with the announcement of pending non-clinical studies and a Phase 1 clinical trial.
These trials will determine the initial... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is working with Vela Diagnostics USA to develop a rapid diagnostic test for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rapid diagnostic test would be for use on two instrument platforms, which is needed to test as many people as possible and... Read More »
Ohio State University researchers have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a process designed to expand and accelerate COVID-19 testing statewide.
In response to shortages of test kit components, including swabs and vials filled with a liquid called viral transport media... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced a measure designed to expand assurances for public safety officers contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus and Fire Services Caucus, House Judiciary Committee Chairman... Read More »
The push for convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin immunotherapies to use against COVID-19 continues at the federal level, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) touting collaboration with non-governmental entities to see it done.
These immunotherapies could... Read More »
A group of senators recently forwarded correspondence to Vice President Mike Pence, the Coronavirus Task Force, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) seeking COVID-19 testing clarity.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined colleagues in calling for the initiation... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will pump approximately $180,000 into a new partnership with DiaSorin, Inc. to create a clinical lab test capable of identifying people infected with and recovered from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes... Read More »
Esri, a company that makes geographic information system (GIS) software, is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Specifically, Esri will provide its mapping and analytics technology in support of a multi-agency geospatial... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators will introduce a bill to establish a commission to examine the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The commission would be charged with reviewing the government’s coronavirus response and make recommendations on how it can be improved. The bill... Read More »
Analytical AI of Birmingham, Ala., received a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) funding award to aid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) detection and screening capabilities.
The $199,536 allotment through the Silicon Valley Innovation... Read More »
One of the major problems facing governments and healthcare professionals alike in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has been the undetected, asymptomatic cases throughout the world, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) now aims to track the previously unnoticed.
A study to be conducted... Read More »
In a second emergency use authorization (EUA), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the decontamination of N95 and equivalent respirators for reuse by health care workers in hospitals working to contain COVID-19.
Such masks have been in short supply as hospitals... Read More »
A group of Congressional lawmakers are calling on leaders of the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the World Organization for Animal Health to ban live wildlife markets and international trade of live wildlife.
Live wildlife markets, also known as “wet” markets, create a... Read More »
A recently released report generated by United Kingdom and American security personnel maintains cyber criminals and other online groups are exploiting the COVID-19 outbreak for personal gain.
The analysis from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Department of Homeland... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced legislation designed to protect first responders and frontline workers in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID–19 Workers First Protection Act (S. 3584) directs the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue an emergency temporary... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded roughly $1.3 billion to health centers to help them respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
The funding – through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) – went to 1,387 different health centers. The awards may be... Read More »
Teaming up with the United States government, health technology provider Royal Philips has agreed to double the production of hospital ventilators at its U.S. manufacturing sites by May and push for a four-fold increase by the third quarter.
These supplies would then be usable in both the U.S.... Read More »
A new report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) attributes three instances of chemical weapons use in 2017 to the Assad regime in Syria.
The report from the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) concluded that there are grounds to believe that the... Read More »
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials reached an agreement with DuPont to obtain Tyvek suits for frontline healthcare workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
DuPont will deliver 450,000 Tyvek suits, via FedEx, to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) from its Hanoi,... Read More »
A pair of lawmakers are calling for immediate action to prepare for and prevent anticipated critical drug shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Patty Murray (D-WA) have forwarded correspondence to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the... Read More »
Nanomix is working to create a 15 minute rapid mobile COVID-19 test, capable of diagnosing current or past infection by SARS-CoV-2 through nasal and throat swabs.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is teaming up with Nanomix to achieve this, pumping $569,647 into... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators recently urged Trump administration officials to immediately distribute an initial round of emergency funding to hospitals and other health care providers.
This funding would come from the $100 billion that was authorized to hospitals and healthcare... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted Inovio Pharmaceuticals investigational new drug (IND) application for its vaccine candidate designed to prevent COVID-19 infection.
This action by the FDA paves the way for Phase 1 clinical testing of this vaccine candidate, INO-4800, in healthy... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is seeking participants for its third 2020 GPS Testing for Critical Infrastructure (GET-CI) event later this year.
“Accurate and precise position, navigation and timing (PNT) information is vital to the... Read More »
Actemra, a drug more commonly used to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, will undergo a Phase 3 clinical trial for its potential to help patients suffering from COVID-19, under an expanded partnership between Roche’s Genentech and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development... Read More »
Global healthcare company Grifols is collaborating with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to collect plasma and create a COVID-19 treatment based on it.
The effort is based on previous government calls for... Read More »
