Countermeasures
Pressing forward with a potential antibody treatment for COVID-19 known as REGN-COV2, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) announced an agreement with Regeneron, Inc. this week that will culminate in a commercial-scale manufacturing demonstration.
REGN-COV2... Read More »
Rewards are rolling out from the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed this week, including $1.6 billion -- allotted from the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) -- given to Novavax, Inc. for 100 million doses of a possible COVID-19 vaccine.
While the... Read More »
The Trump administration filed a notice to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, senior officials with the administration confirmed to various news outlets.
The move has been received negatively by key Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as leading health... Read More »
A bill designed to strengthen the U.S. government’s counter-terrorism efforts against transnational white supremacy and identity groups was introduced in Congress.
The Countering Global White Supremacist Terrorism Act directs the U.S. Department of State to assess the global threat of the... Read More »
The George Washington University has been selected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to aid the effort focusing on security technology transition (STT).
The university would establish a new Center of Excellence (COE) delivering a pilot Master... Read More »
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has forwarded correspondence to the Department of Defense regarding the timeline for removing Turkey from the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter supply chain.
In the letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Lankford joined Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Thom Tillis... Read More »
A second COVID-19 antigen diagnostic test has been added to the United States arsenal this week, under an emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Becton Dickinson (BD) Veritor System.
“Expanding America’s testing capabilities is the... Read More »
A new partnership for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) ongoing efforts to grapple with COVID-19 has united it with Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. in an attempt to create a point-of-care in vitro diagnostic test.
If successful, that test would be capable of... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. struck a five-year manufacturing services agreement with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. for its investigational COVID-19 vaccine.
Emergent will provide contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services for large-scale drug substance... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Max Rose (D-NY) Kendra Horn (D-OK), and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) introduced legislation requiring the U.S. government to combat efforts by the Chinese government to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Preventing China from Exploiting COVID-19 Act requires the Director of National... Read More »
Smiths Detection -- a leader in threat detection and screening technologies for aviation, ports, and borders, urban security and defense -- has launched new algorithms that enhance its HI-SCAN 10080 XCT explosive-detection system (EDS) scanner’s detection capabilities.
Smiths iCMORE detection... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has officially begun deploying Autonomous Surveillance Towers (AST) systems along the southwest border, providing continuous surveillance operations.
“These towers give agents in the field a significant leg up against the criminal networks that... Read More »
National Emergency Number Association (NENA) personnel said the organization supports the House of Representatives’ recent action creating a new $12 billion federal grant program upgrading the nation’s 9-1-1 centers.
Next Generation 9-1-1 was incorporated into the Moving Forward Act, a... Read More »
House members of the Northern Border Caucus are pushing for a phased reopening of that United States-Canadian border, which has been shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In all, 29 Congress members, led by caucus co-chairs Brian Higgins (D-NY) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), called for... Read More »
Last week, the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation (DOT) and Health and Human Services (HHS) issued joint guidance for the air travel industry, meant to provide a framework for airlines and airports operating amidst a global pandemic.
COVID-19 has spawned more than 11.4... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators called on the leaders of Central Asian nations to release detainees imprisoned for peaceful activism who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19.
The Senators sent letters to the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Tajikistan Emomali... Read More »
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) has joined the RESOLVE Network, a group of individuals and organizations focused on issues related to violent extremism and community resilience.
START Director William Braniff serves on the RESOLVE Network’s... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said the agency has postponed reopening Trusted Traveler Programs Enrollment Center sites until at least Aug. 10, 2020.
The action stems from the agency seeking to ensure the health and safety of program applicants, per the CBP, adding the decision... Read More »
First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) officials recently joined a trio of agencies in presenting Accelerate R2 Network (R2 Network) Challenge awards.
The initiative serves as an interagency program connecting stakeholder response and resilience. The Department of Commerce, Economic... Read More »
As the U.S. Senate considers the latest National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced last week that $500 million had been added to benefit the U.S.–Israeli Cooperative Missile Defense Program.
This inclusion will benefit the development of certain missile... Read More »
Expanding on an existing partnership, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Sonica Health announced last week that they will work together to create a wearable patch capable of monitoring for COVID-19 infections.
The device is meant for high-risk clinical... Read More »
The Homeland Security Committee has released a report assessing the government’s coronavirus oversight response, detailing the Committee’s actions amid the pandemic.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, recently released a majority staff report... Read More »
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) said he has introduced H.R. 7384, the Safer Communities Act, that would make communities safer by highlighting functional reforms, rewarding officers making a positive impact, and addressing power abuses.
“Instead of getting bogged down in partisan arguments on issues... Read More »
The U.S. Space Force (USSF) finalized its organizational structure with the Air Force this week, focusing itself more on mission than on a layered command system.
In all, President Donald Trump’s addition to the military system will operate under three echelons of command: Space Operations... Read More »
Alarmed by heavy U.S. reliance on foreign nations for both its supply of drugs and pharmaceutical products, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bill this week to require a study of that overreliance.
Specifically, the bill would require the Federal Trade... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is providing licensure guidance for those companies and organizations developing COVID-19 vaccines.
The guidance, called the “Development and Licensure of Vaccines to Prevent COVID-19,” provides an overview of key considerations to satisfy requirements... Read More »
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence and Acuminor are developing new technology to help banks identify transactional behavior linked to human trafficking.
They are working on a trial with a major Nordic bank for their new solution to test the effectiveness of its financial crime detection systems.... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) struck an agreement to secure large supplies of the drug remdesivir from Gilead Sciences.
HHS has secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir -- the first authorized therapeutic for COVID-19 -- for U.S. hospitals through... Read More »
A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers is urging European Union (EU) member states to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
The lawmakers state that Hezbollah is using Europe as a launching pad for its criminal and terrorist activities, including money laundering, drug... Read More »
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) are urging the colleagues to pass the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act, which they said addresses foreign interference with domestic elections.
While Rubio and Van Hollen filed the measure as an amendment... Read More »
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) collaboration has resulted in automated mobile application (app) software testing procedures.
Officials said the partnership stems from efforts to ensure the... Read More »
Hoping to improve cybersecurity, four senators introduced an amendment to the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week that would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to appoint cybersecurity coordinators in every state.
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Maggie Hassan... Read More »
Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote United States Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar this week with concerns about efforts to replenish the much-depleted Strategic National Stockpile.
That stockpile has been deeply impacted during the... Read More »
Legislators are not waiting for the coronavirus pandemic to subside to suggest ways to combat future health emergencies.
In his recently released white paper “Preparing for the Next Pandemic,” U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) outlines five recommendations Congress can act on in the next six... Read More »
A group of U.S. Senators recently called on Senate leadership to include federal funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and housing programs in the next coronavirus pandemic response package.
Specifically, the Senators, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), are... Read More »
