Countermeasures
The United States federal government exercised two options on contracts with Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics this week to purchase an additional 1.4 million courses of the investigational oral antiviral molnupiravir for use against COVID-19.
This deal will amount to approximately $1 billion... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Wednesday that it would be investing $650 million from the American Rescue Plan to strengthen the manufacturing capacity for quality diagnostic testing through rapid point-of-care molecular tests and increase Americans’ access to them.... Read More »
With approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now in hand, INOVIO intends to proceed with a Phase 3 segment of its INNOVATE trial for the COVID-19 vaccine candidate INO-4800 in the United States.
Authorization followed a partial clinical hold on the candidate, while the FDA... Read More »
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) joined 16 other legislators to introduce a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that seeks to prevent the Biden administration from executing unilateral cuts to the nation’s nuclear forces.
The amendment was introduced in the wake of reports... Read More »
For at least eight months following a single dose, the REGEN-COV COVID-19 drug cocktail developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. could provide affiliated risk reductions of 81.6 percent, according to a new analysis of a Phrase 3 trial.
That trial, jointly run by Regeneron and the National... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice recently outlined a federal jury's conviction of a Chinese national and Deputy Division Director of the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security.
Authorities indicated Yanjun Xu was convicted of conspiring to and attempting to commit economic... Read More »
The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed Friday night by the U.S. House of Representatives contained a number of provisions to help the country’s fire and emergency services, including funding for wildfire response and mitigation.
Wildfire provisions in the package... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced this week a legislative amendment that would create a nonpartisan commission to examine the war in Afghanistan, mistakes made therein, and recommendations for avoiding them in the future.
“Our country invested two decades in... Read More »
MSA Safety Inc. earned a $4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week to produce elastomeric air-purifying respirators to be added to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
The MSA’s Advantage 290 Air-Purifying Respirator (APR) consists of a... Read More »
Reckoning with the more the 750,000 Americans killed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the failures that stalked response, and the threat of future outbreaks, a bipartisan collection of four senators introduced a new bill last week to build a 9/11-style commission charged with investigating the outbreak... Read More »
U.S. Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) expressed concerns regarding what they maintain is the nation's potential vulnerable security posture amid national security positions in the Biden administration being unfilled.
Katko and Meijer sent a letter to President Joe Biden stating... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) recently awarded funds to a firm to advance first responder interoperable messaging capabilities.
The $1,545,286.03 allotment to Mobility 4 Public Safety (M4PS) would aid in developing the Bridge 4 Public... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Angus King (I-ME), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Mitt Romney (R-MA) applauded the House’s passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for its inclusion of $21 million in funding for the Office of the National Cyber Director (NCD).
The NCD is a new position... Read More »
Interim data from Pfizer Inc.’s novel COVID-19 antiviral candidate, PAXLOVID, revealed an oral treatment with the ability to cut the risk of hospitalization and death by as much as 89 percent among adult patients.
These results, pulled from the randomized Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR (Evaluation of... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced legislation seeking to bolster the nation's intelligence capabilities.
The lawmakers indicated the Advancing American AI Innovation Act (S. 3175)
would establish a Department of Defense (DoD) pilot program forming artificial... Read More »
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced it had selected Northeastern University to lead a consortium of U.S. academic institutions for a new Center of Excellence for Engineering Secure Environments from Targeted Attacks... Read More »
Last week, U.S. Reps. Ami Bera (D-CA), M.D. and Don Young (R-AK) introduced a bill to reauthorize a national tuberculosis strategy, authorize grants for state health departments to focus on TB in high-risk populations, and promote interagency coordination in containing the disease.
Despite the... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced last week two bills to address the government's wildfire response and equitable distribution of natural disaster resources.
The FIRE Act would revise the Stafford Act governing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),... Read More »
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued guidance to prioritize remediation of vulnerabilities presently actively exploited by adversaries.
Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01 - Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities establishes a... Read More »
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) asked David Pekoske, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), for an update on the agency’s contingency plan for a potential workforce reduction due to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for... Read More »
The antiviral Molnupiravir became the first oral treatment for COVID-19 to receive authorization this week, winning approval from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases in adults.
Specifically, users must have had at... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) made its eighth emergency use listing (EUL) for a COVID-19 vaccine this week, granting that honor to Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN.
COVAXIN is formulated from an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- antigen. Use of the vaccine by adults was... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced Wednesday a Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment increasing funding to Army vehicles produced in Oshkosh, Wis.
The action would apply to the heavy wheeled vehicles and add $109 million as a means of... Read More »
Republican U.S. senators took aim at the Biden administration’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 epidemic during a Thursday hearing, criticizing the new mandate on vaccinations and blaming federal policies for shortages of therapeutics, testing and other critical materials.
“Cases and... Read More »
As world leaders gather in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, a new global partnership has formed to focus on the impact of climate change on terrorism, the group said Tuesday.
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), Pool Re... Read More »
A Q2 Solutions Co., Ltd. lab facility in Beijing, China, became the first East Asian lab to join the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) centralized COVID-19 lab network this week.
“I am delighted to today welcome Q2 Solutions’ facility in Beijing to this group of... Read More »
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials said three men have been indicted for their alleged role in participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy that resulted in the seizure of over one ton of cocaine.
Jorge Aponte-Guzman, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, and Carlos Maisonet-Lopez were... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), noting concerns regarding energy infrastructure security.
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, (R-MO), ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and U.S. Sen. Roger... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) recently introduced the National Wildland Fire Risk Reduction Program Act (H.R. 5781), which seeks to enhance wildfire preparedness, resilience, and response.
The measure aims to identify and... Read More »
National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) personnel have issued 5G cloud infrastructure guidance the agencies indicated address building and configuration.
“This series provides key cybersecurity guidance to configure 5G cloud... Read More »
In an effort to better crackdown on illegal drugs at the source, the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) announced $44.5 million in funding this week for state-level law enforcement agencies.
This money will specifically go toward these agencies’... Read More »
The failures, successes, and lessons learned from the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines should be incorporated immediately into future pandemic vaccine planning if the world hopes to avoid the delays and pitfalls of the modern ecosystem, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health... Read More »
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) announced Monday that he has introduced legislation to strengthen public safety and counter anti-police sentiment.
The Stop Enabling Repeat Violence and Endangering (SERVE) Our Communities Act would provide incentives for states to adopt policies that would hold... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently partnered with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address the deceptive marketing of a nasal spray.
The agencies detailed civil enforcement action against defendants Xlear Inc. and Nathan Jones for alleged violations of the COVID-19 Consumer... Read More »
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Moderna, Inc. that an assessment of an emergency use authorization request for its COVID-19 vaccine to be used on adolescents may not be completed before January 2022.
The delay was due to a stated necessity to evaluate recent... Read More »
