Countermeasures
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created the first Foundry for American Biotechnology to produce technological solutions to enhance medical care and respond to health security threats.
The Foundry will be located in Manchester, N.H., and managed by the Advanced Regenerative... Read More »
Fearing for the pharmaceuticals, food, and medical supplies coming from China amid the novel coronavirus, U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CN) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) implored the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action this week.
In a letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, the senators... Read More »
The National Governors Association (NGA) received a briefing on the U.S. response to the novel coronavirus, which was officially renamed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization this week, during its winter meeting this week, from representatives of the White House-appointed Coronavirus Task... Read More »
In the wake of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, policymakers and the public are asking what more could have been done to prevent the spread of that disease.
Public health officials participated on Monday at the Hudson Institute in a panel discussion to answer that question. The talk,... Read More »
U.S. Senators from California and Nevada are requesting the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno with eight new aircraft.
Upgrading the Nevada Air National Guard’s C-130J fleet would help improve the Nevada Air National Guard’s ability to fight wildfires in... Read More »
The Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act was signed into law last week by President Donald Trump.
The legislation extends the Drug Enforcement Agency’s temporary order making fentanyl-related substances Schedule I, a designation reserved... Read More »
Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) recently urged the U.S. Army to select Fort Benning as the Army’s fourth corps headquarters.
Fort Benning is one of three finalists for the headquarters that is needed to fulfill National Defense Strategy requirements.
In their letter to... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma received a $730,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) last week, to aid their investigations of emerging diseases -- research made all the more timely by the emergence of the Chinese novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The... Read More »
Faced with a novel coronavirus outbreak that has taken the world by storm, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) recently highlighted lax pandemic funding from the Trump administration.
The group of Democrats pressed the administration... Read More »
National health security advocates argue the U.S. government is not fiscally prepared to address the possible spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States, and it must take rapid steps to ensure funding is in place to head off potential threats.
In Feb. 7 letters addressed to... Read More »
A new publication by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) outlines a set of risk management techniques for businesses to reduce cybersecurity risk to global supply chains.
The publication, called Key Practices in Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management, addresses the... Read More »
Faced with more than 28,000 cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) worldwide and more than 550 deaths confirmed so far, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) called on Senate committees this week to guarantee response funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
As of this month, HHS... Read More »
University of Cincinnati (UC) engineers have developed a portable lab that plugs into smartphones and can be used to diagnose health conditions and infectious diseases including HIV, Lyme disease, malaria, depression, anxiety and coronavirus.
The lab is the size of a credit card and connects... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) consulted with Major League Baseball teams to review incident preparedness measures and response plans at stadiums during spring training.
The review was done with teams participating in the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is accepting abstract submissions for potential funding for the development of coronavirus molecular diagnostics.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently selected four new industry partners to participate in a new wildfire sensors workstream of the Smart Cities Internet of Things Innovation (SCITI) Labs.
SCITI Labs will work with the Federal Emergency... Read More »
The second wave of Americans arrived in California on Wednesday, traveling from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic. They will spend days on military bases in quarantine as public health officials determine if there are any cases of the virus and to treat those... Read More »
Following a classified briefing of his staff by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of National Security (ONS), U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reiterated that the novel coronavirus appears to pose no immediate threat to the United States.
Where concern remains is for... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) that will allow use of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Diagnostic Panel by any CDC-qualified lab in the United States when dealing with cases of the novel coronavirus.
That authorization,... Read More »
An existing relationship between the U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will be extended under a new arrangement to develop a treatment for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
"Emerging infectious diseases can present... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced plans to acquire a W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead.
“In the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, the department identified the requirement to ‘modify a small number of submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads’ to... Read More »
Pattern Bioscience was awarded $6.8 million in funding to develop a test to diagnose drug-resistant infections quickly.
The rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility test (ID/AST) will provide health professionals with information about which pathogen is causing the infection and... Read More »
Forty-eight members of Congress recently sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking the agency to quickly distribute its rapid diagnostic test for coronavirus to state and local officials nationwide.
Currently, samples must be sent to the CDC in Atlanta for... Read More »
With cases of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) now rooted in 25 countries and afflicting more than 24,000 people, the international community is attempting to fight back with a $675 million Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP).
While many nations have responded swiftly to the novel... Read More »
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently granted the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Sonoma County $2 million for long-range fire detection cameras for its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
The program aims to prevent the loss of life as well as property... Read More »
The U.S Food and Drug Administration licensed Audenz, an influenza vaccine designed to protect against the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
AUDENZ was developed by Seqirus with support from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) within the Office of the Assistant... Read More »
BAE Systems was awarded a prime position on a $212 million contract by the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) to integrate its critical communication systems.
BAE Systems will design, acquire, integrate, and test radio systems for new Guided Missile Destroyers... Read More »
Research biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences announced last week that it has joined efforts to contain the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) through requested release of an experimental drug known as remdesivir.
Remdesivir is not yet licensed or approved anywhere in the world. However,... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is calling for actions to counter the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) this week, with a new vaccine-focused request for proposals, millions in funding additions, and new partnerships.
CEPI desires rapid development and... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has offered recommendations for the United States to prevent and respond to potential biological catastrophes, such as the novel coronavirus.
NTI officials say global biological catastrophes may not only impact millions of lives but could have a huge impact on... Read More »
A bipartisan group of 10 House of Representative members recently introduced a resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) going into effect.
The NPT at 50 Resolution reaffirms Congress’ support for the treaty.
The treaty was... Read More »
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Angus King (I-ME) recently requested information on why the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) PREDICT program was ended.
The USAID PREDICT program was founded in 2009... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and biopharmaceutical company CureVac AG announced that, as of last week, they are linked in the effort to accelerate development of vaccines against the novel coronavirus (nCoV-2019).
While the pair had already been partnering to create... Read More »
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion for the approval of Emergent Biosolutions’ oral cholera vaccine, Vaxchora.
Authorization from the European Commission is anticipated within three months. The marketing... Read More »
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar began a new path last week in the previously measured efforts to contain the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), declaring a public health emergency for the nation and opening more flexibility for health authorities to respond.
The emergency... Read More »
