Countermeasures
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a Phase 2 clinical trial last week to investigate any antibody response generated by an extra dose of authorized/approved COVID-19 vaccines among patients with autoimmune disease who experienced no response from a previous vaccine regimen.
The... Read More »
During the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) Summit in Danville, Virginia, Department of Defense (DOD) officials highlighted the agency's Defense Industrial Workforce Strategy.
The presentation, Perspectives on Industrial Workforce Challenges, addressed perspectives on closing... Read More »
A new policy brief released this month by the advocacy group Pandemic Action Network (PAN) calls on world leaders to create a 100-day action plan toward creating a new financing mechanism at the United Nations General Assembly capable of bolstering pandemic preparedness by at least $10 billion... Read More »
According to a new paper from the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), artificial intelligence in nuclear weapons systems is a neutral wash of possibilities -- but it also appears inevitable, and as a result, immediate action is needed to balance benefits and risks while the technology is... Read More »
New voices were added to the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Tick-Borne Disease Working Group this week, filling positions left vacant by public members looking to workshop ideas on how best to counter rising cases of tick-borne illnesses.
In all, seven new members... Read More »
INOVIO received the green light for phase three of its INNOVATE Phase 2/3 clinical trial of INO-4800 last week, allowing it to proceed with efficacy evaluation of its COVID-19 DNA vaccine candidate in Brazil.
Alongside its partner, Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co., Ltd., INOVIO intends to... Read More »
Two North Dakota Senators are touting infrastructure improvements at Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) and the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (RW) that would lead to future Air Force Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) helped secure... Read More »
The largest ever Lassa Fever study in West Africa secured the means of testing this week, thanks to a contract between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Zalgen Labs LLC, which will supply antibody testing kits for up to 7,000 participants.
Zalgen, a biotechnology... Read More »
New data released by Johnson & Johnson this week showed that using its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for the previously vaccinated could provide as much as a nine-fold increase in antibodies for patients at least 18 years old.
The news follows interim reports from July, published in... Read More »
Air Force officials said the military branch has selected Ohio’s Mansfield-Lahm Air National Guard Base as the preferred venue for a new Cyber Warfare Wing mission.
Officials said the transformation would support Air Combat Command’s future requirements -- resulting in operational mission... Read More »
Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week queried the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Francis Collins, with more questions in the saga of the Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology, its research and the origins of COVID-19.
Writers included... Read More »
A plasma-derived COVID-19 candidate from Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is part of a late-stage federal study that will test the therapy as a potential outpatient treatment for people who are at high risk of developing severe disease, including adults 55 and older and those who are... Read More »
Vaccination has begun for a Phase 2/3 trial of Bharat Biotech International Ltd’s (BBIL) Chikungunya vaccine candidate, through a partnership with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Costa Rica.
The Costa Rican trial of BBV87, the official name for the candidate, marks the... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) placed a call for partners this week to aid the organization in developing new sequencing-based, agnostic diagnostic tests better capable of detecting respiratory RNA viruses.
Potential partners will be able to help guide the... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has earmarked $500,000 to a San Diego, Calif.-based firm to test small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) settings.
Officials said Planck Aerosystems would provide further testing and deployment of sUAS in Customs... Read More »
A pair of lawmakers have forwarded correspondence to the Department of Defense, seeking a briefing and information related to the Taliban’s access to U.S. military equipment in Afghanistan.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member... Read More »
With data from its Phase 3 COVE study showing a COVID-19 vaccine with 93 percent effectiveness, Moderna, Inc. has officially filed for a biologics license application (BLA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that would lead to full licensure.
It’s an important step, which... Read More »
Honolulu, Hawaii-based Oceanit Laboratories has secured a $949,999.78 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program award for sensor system development.
While sensors that include range finders, thermal imaging devices, and radio frequency detectors are... Read More »
The United States and Singapore reached an agreement that seeks to expand cybersecurity cooperation efforts between the nations.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) -- signed by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly and Chief Executive of the Cyber... Read More »
Through publication of data in Vaccine, this week Soligenix showcased the capabilities of its filovirus vaccine platform to formulate and provide heat stabilization for multiple antigen combinations of vaccine candidates: monovalent, bivalent, and trivalent.
The single-vial platform project was... Read More »
A 210-person Phase 2 clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, ABNCoV2, began this week to determine its potential as a booster vaccine for those who have either caught the disease previously or been otherwise vaccinated.
Licensed by Bavarian Nordic A/S and developed by AdaptVac, the... Read More »
Northrup Grumman Corporation announced Monday it had opened a new building in Colorado Springs to support its advanced missile defense and strategic deterrent businesses.
The new facility will feature advanced engineering, research labs, software development factories and a high-speed,... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said the agency is exploring the use of technology to aid with crowd count and analysis.
Officials cited the potential to prevent delayed, inadequate, or misplaced responses to crowds in detailing a request... Read More »
Results of a Phase 3 clinical trial have shown that AstraZeneca’s antibody combination for COVID-19, AZD7442, cuts the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 77 percent for at least three months.
That is dependent on the treatment being taken prior to infection. However, the antibodies used in... Read More »
A trio of lawmakers have forwarded correspondence to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan regarding detainees reportedly released from detention facilities in Afghanistan after Taliban seizure of the country.
Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Mike Rogers (R-AL)... Read More »
With the formation of a new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for experts to lend their knowledge on the origins of pathogens with wide-reaching potential.
This multidisciplinary group will consist of up to 25... Read More »
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command to activate Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) on Sunday.
The activation will provide the U.S. Department of Defense with access to commercial air mobility resources to help in the... Read More »
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use among patients 16 years and older, making it the first of the disease’s vaccines to cross beyond conditional use.
Since Dec. 11, 2020, the mRNA-based vaccine had... Read More »
While key federal agencies prepared interagency response plans and conducted 74 interagency exercises from 2009 through 2019 to prepare for and respond to a wide variety of biological incidents, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently determined that the agencies weren’t on the same... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) introduced legislation Wednesday that seeks to divert a small percentage of military spending towards global vaccination efforts, vaccinating potentially an additional 30 percent of the world’s low-income population within a year.
The COVID Defense Act would... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking a complete account of military equipment left behind in Afghanistan.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined 23 Senate colleagues in penning the letter to Austin. The equipment has already or risks... Read More »
The governing body of FirstNet Authority, the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications entity dedicated to and purpose-built for first responders, has approved the platform's Fiscal Year 2022 budget.
The First Responder Network Authority Board passed a $253 million budget focusing on... Read More »
According to preclinical data produced by Soligenix, Inc. this week, positive, effective results have been demonstrated by multiple filovirus vaccine candidates.
In collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Soligenix’s vaccines proved capable against three potentially deadly... Read More »
Utilizing initial funding from the American Rescue Plan, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled plans this week for a new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, focused on forecasts of disease outbreaks and analytics for public health.
The new center will be... Read More »
U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Tuesday that they would be implementing President Joe Biden’s pay increases for federal wildland firefighters.
The announcement ensures that the approximately 3,500... Read More »
