Countermeasures
A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center makes recommendations on modernizing the U.S. public healthcare systems in light of the challenges the country has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report, Public health Forward: Modernizing the U.S. Public Health System, outlines critical... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has unveiled Security Directives to address surface transportation systems and associated infrastructure cybersecurity threats.
“These new cybersecurity requirements and recommendations will... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) commended House of Representatives colleagues for passing a pair of bills Kinzinger introduced that he said are designed to bolster cybersecurity.
The American Cybersecurity Literacy Act (H.R. 4055) requires the National Telecommunications... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced legislation Wednesday that would increase the transparency in what the federal government spends money on when it comes to disasters and emergencies – including pandemics, wildfires, and flooding.
The... Read More »
Battelle announced that it has secured a Large Sport Utility Vehicle (LSUV) design contract from the Department of State (DoS) to develop armored Ford Expeditions.
“Battelle is proud to bring its depth of engineering skills to DSS and other government agencies seeking armored vehicles... Read More »
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) applauded the House of Representatives' passage of three cybersecurity bills.
“The House came together to pass three critical bipartisan bills that aim to... Read More »
This week, the World Health Assembly announced that it intends to jumpstart a process to draft and negotiate a global agreement to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
The decision came with the ongoing -- and evolving -- COVID-19 pandemic firmly in mind and will utilize... Read More »
Results from non-human primate testing of a Soligenix, Inc.-developed Bivalent Thermostabilized Filovirus vaccine, released this week, suggested 100 percent protection provided against the Sudan ebolavirus among dosed non-human primates.
The single vial vaccine is meant to target both the... Read More »
Former U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks, a Republican who represented the 5th District of Indiana from 2013-2021, and former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Peggy Hamburg, who served as the agency’s 21st commissioner between 2009-2015, have joined the Bipartisan Commission on... Read More »
Argentum Medical, a Geneva, Ill.-based medical device company, announced Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted its Silverlon Wound Contact, Burn Contact Dressings a Breakthrough Device designation.
The FDA’s Breakthrough Device Program creates a pathway for... Read More »
A 13-10 vote by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee (AMDAC) set the stage for recommending Emergency Use Authorization of the Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics oral COVID-19 antiviral molnupiravir this week.
The narrow backing followed a... Read More »
Moving quickly to address concerns raised by the Omicron COVID-19 variant, following its discovery last week, INOVIO announced it will evaluate two of its COVID-19 DNA vaccine candidates against the variant and has begun pre-clinical development of another specifically tailored to it.
Omicron... Read More »
Oshkosh Corporation officials said a subsidiary of the company, Oshkosh Defense, has secured an Army contract totaling $591.6 million for 1,669 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV).
The contract, which was awarded via the Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA), includes 868... Read More »
Northrop Grumman Corporation has secured a $153 million Navy contract to produce AGM-88E2 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles (AARGM) for the Navy and German Air Force.
“As threats continue to evolve, AARGM remains an affordable solution to continue protecting the Navy and our allies with... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME) recently filed an FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that seeks to enhance the key technologies permitting process concerning national security.
The amendment focuses on the FAST-41 improved... Read More »
Results of a study on molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics for use against COVID-19, showed this week that the drug cuts the risk of hospitalization or death by approximately 3 percent.
The trial of 1,433 participants focused on those... Read More »
As the world continues to realign its approach and expectations in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in South Africa last week, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) took the opportunity to renew calls for expanding U.S. vaccine aid to other nations.
“The emergence of... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) recently detailed the HBCU National Security Innovation Act, which seeks to connect Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) students to the defense industry and private sector national security and innovation programs.
“As... Read More »
Moderna announced last week a strategy for addressing the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, including a new booster vaccine and studies of boosters that have already anticipated its mutations.
The rushed strategy announcement came in the wake of closing borders and the World Health... Read More »
Marines and Navy personnel are espousing the benefits of the service branches recently completing joint Pacific tactical training exercises off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.
The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the Navy's 7th Fleet simulated strikes on naval targets. Over six days, the participating... Read More »
Department of Defense (DoD) officials said the agency's Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering has earned R&D World R&D 100 Award honors.
The DoD indicated the recognition within the Software/Services category stems from the development and implementation of the... Read More »
Federal agencies, Congress and the White House must jointly foster improved research and development for pandemic preparedness and response, experts said during a recent webinar hosted by the Capitol Hill Steering Committee on Pandemic Preparedness & Health Security.
“Over the last two... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) recently reached a joint licensing agreement with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for a non-exclusive COVID-19 serological antibody test.
The CSIC-developed test, to be... Read More »
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced a series of initiatives he said seek to address
violent crime in Baltimore City amid the city exceeding 300 homicides for the seventh consecutive year.
"People are being shot nearly every single day in Baltimore City, and we all have an obligation to do... Read More »
In facing down a future of potential biological dangers, a new report from authors at NTI | bio recommended concrete action at the national and international level, from new oversight agencies to process overhauls and funding, to improve prevention and response.
In “Strengthening Global... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) recently joined first responders in recognizing a pair of achievements they said would aid police and fire personnel.
The group celebrated the signing into law of Pascrell’s Protecting America’s First Responders Act of 2021 (PAFRA), a measure that improves... Read More »
A new report from the CommuniVax Coalition has found that while progress has been made regarding equity in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, more work is needed.
Led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Department of Anthropology at... Read More »
Building on the success of its COVID-10 vaccine testing network to date, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced this week that it will expand its centralized testing capabilities to the development of vaccines for other epidemic and pandemic diseases.
CEPI’s... Read More »
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and FBI officials said the agencies are encouraging Americans to be aware of critical infrastructure security during the holiday season.
Efforts are being intensified to disrupt the critical networks and systems belonging to organizations,... Read More »
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) introduced a bill to secure the U.S. southern border.
The Build Better Borders Act of 2021 would increase civil monetary penalties for illegally crossing the border to $450,000. It stipulates that funds collected from those fines be... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to the National Security Council to express concerns regarding nuclear policy.
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) joined U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Devin Nunes (R-CA) in sending the letter to... Read More »
With COVID-19 daily emphasizing how critical health care workers are to modern society, a collection of U.S. senators this week proposed a student loan repayment program to drive recruitment and retention in the field of public health.
The BIO Preparedness Workforce Act was introduced by U.S.... Read More »
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) personnel said the agency has issued an Infrastructure Dependency Primer (IDP) to aid state, local, tribal, and territorial planners in gaining infrastructure dependency insight.
The IDP resource supplements CISA’s recently published... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, praised the Build Back Better Act on Friday, especially for its inclusion of $1.5 billion for investments at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The funding would improve the country’s cybersecurity... Read More »
Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that the company's Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $113.6 million Navy contract modification for the
Amphibious Assault Ship LHA 9.
The contract would enable long-lead-time material and advance procurement activities, bringing the total... Read More »
