Countermeasures
ConserV Bioscience Limited (CBL) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) agreed to collaborate this week in creating a universal coronavirus vaccine capable of protecting against coronavirus pathogens of human and animal origin, as well as new mutations, researchers said.
CBL, a... Read More »
Timothy Shea, acting administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, announced Friday that the agency would be expanding Operation Crystal Shield.
The expansion identifies two additional methamphetamine “transportation hubs” in 2021. It would work to attack the entire supply... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) hosted a virtual forum last week to identify knowledge gaps and set research priorities for vaccines against COVID-19.
At the forum – attended by more than 2,800 scientists from 130 countries – the participants discussed the safety and efficacy of existing... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) introduced a bill that would require the federal government to cover the full cost of National Guard deployments for COVID-19 response efforts.
A companion bill will be introduced in the Senate on Jan. 21 by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). These are... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Simplified Arrival, which uses facial biometrics to automate manual documentation required for admission, is being used at two California border crossings.
The technology is being implemented at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa pedestrian border crossing... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new nationwide Real ID public awareness campaign that addresses requirements while encouraging action before the Oct. 1, 2021, full enforcement deadline.
"Be Your REAL ID Self" urges Americans to obtain a REAL ID-compliant card or an... Read More »
With £2.5 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation, an arm of the government, the G2P-UK National Virology Consortium has been founded to study the threats posed by new SARS-CoV-2 variants increasingly cropping up across the world.
The effects of these mutations have yet to be fully... Read More »
The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $69.3 million to CONTINUUS Pharmaceuticals Inc. last week to support the development of domestic production capability for critical medicines using integrated continuous manufacturing (ICM) technology.
ICM is a... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced that $16 million in federal funding has been secured to combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.
The funding, a $2 million increase over last year, was included in the recently passed bipartisan government... Read More »
An indictment was unsealed in Central Islip, N.Y., last week, charging 14 leaders in MS-13 who are known as the Ranfla Nacional, which operated as the organization’s board of directors, directing MS-13’s criminal activity for almost two decades.
The indictment charges the defendants with... Read More »
Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) have re-introduced legislation they said imposes sanctions on foreign persons, agencies, and governments assisting Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or affiliates.
The Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act requires the... Read More »
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS), which the company developed with the Army, would proceed with low rate initial production (LRIP).
The action stems from a successful Milestone C decision for the program, which the Department of... Read More »
Last week, a collection of 30 United States Representatives wrote to House and committee leadership to demand the creation of an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the government’s failure to address domestic terrorism and prevent this month’s assault on the Capitol.
Led by... Read More »
The Rockefeller Foundation seeks to boost vaccination efforts in the United States with a $30 million new advance market commitment (AMC) with Thermo Fisher Scientific to procure and stock COVID-19 tests.
The investment will provide guaranteed demand to test manufacturers. In return, the stock... Read More »
Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., has been selected as the preferred location for the U.S. Space Command Headquarters by the Secretary of the Air Force, on behalf of the Office of Secretary of Defense.
The Department of the Air Force conducted virtual and on-site visits to assess which of... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue guidelines that will maximize vaccine distribution.
In a letter to CDC Director Robert Redfield, Feinstein pointed out that some vaccine providers have reported leftover doses, doses... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has approved a document addressing emerging risks in the Arctic region amid expanded geopolitical interest and competition.
On Jan. 11, then-Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf approved the Department’s inaugural Strategic Approach for... Read More »
The Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation has awarded two projects a total of $1.5 million to address homeland security threat detection and 3D mapping technologies.
The BIRD Homeland Security (HLS) program is a joint initiative funded by the Department of... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will be able to purchase more than 2 million additional COVID-19 antibody treatments due to modifications to an existing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company.
The therapeutic in question,... Read More »
As DiaSorin Molecular LLC works to create a combination diagnostic for differentiating between influenza A/B and COVID-19, it will receive funding, technical assistance, and the expertise of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The announcement, made this week,... Read More »
A group of U.S. Senators recently demanded that the Trump administration take immediate action to remedy the COVID-19 vaccine distribution failures.
Specifically, the 43 senators are calling on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to develop and implement a national vaccine plan.... Read More »
Officials at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in Richmond, Ky., began destroying its next batch of chemical weapons, bringing the nation closer to its goal of eradicating the national stockpile by 2023.
Specifically, a 155-millimeter artillery projectile filled with VX nerve... Read More »
A Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) and Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) report has determined a blueprint for identifying high-risk or illicit nuclear trade activities at scale.
Signals in the Noise: Preventing Nuclear Proliferation with Machine Learning & Publicly Available... Read More »
Three lawmakers have introduced a bill they said would establish a national commission responsible for investigating the domestic terrorist attack on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), John Katko (R-NY), and James Comer (R-KY) noted the commission would consist... Read More »
Valneva SE and the European Commission (EC) are discussing the possibility of the specialty vaccine company supplying up to 60 million doses of its inactivated, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine, VLA2001, for use throughout Europe.
“Today’s announcement helps to ensure that millions of Europeans... Read More »
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) shored up the national supply of casirivimab and imdevimab this week with the purchase of another 1.25 million doses of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s combo monoclonal antibody therapeutic for COVID-19.
Regeneron is... Read More »
Specialty vaccine company Valneva appointed Perry Celentano as its interim chief operating officer (COO).
Celentano will serve in the interim role to support the company’s expansion of the manufacturing sites in Livingston, U.K., and Solna, Sweden.
Perry will be based at Valneva’s... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) are calling on Congress to fully fund the District of Columbia emergency planning and security fund (EPSF).
The EPSF pays for the unique public safety and security costs the District incurs as the nation’s capital. It is... Read More »
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is honoring National Human Trafficking Awareness Month as a means of drawing attention to the international crime and the work of law enforcement to deter human trafficking, bring traffickers to justice, and aid... Read More »
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) officials said the company has completed the initial phase of its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence, which will be used to assemble hull structures.
Construction of the 22,000-square-foot facility serves as the first of two planned buildings on the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched an online site dedicated to locating potential treatment sites for providers and patients seeking monoclonal antibody therapeutic treatments for COVID-19 cases.
The therapeutics distribution page shows locations where these... Read More »
The International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision is creating a global stockpile of the single-dose Merck and Sharp & Dohme Corp. Ebola vaccine to guarantee response capabilities for any outbreak, with financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The stockpile was deemed... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is working with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to improve the detection of synthetic opioids.
Specifically, as part of this initiative, DHS and PNNL will assess the performance of field... Read More »
U.S. Senate leaders from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration said they would hold investigations to examine the security failures during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Senate Homeland Security Committee leaders,... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) to develop firefighter tracking technology.
The effort would allow first responders to locate team members in burning buildings more accurately.... Read More »
