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While monoclonal antibodies have made headway in some countries more than others, the World Health Organization (WHO), for the first time last week, offered prequalification to Roche’s tocilizumab treatment, smoothing the path to more widespread approval.
Prequalification guarantees that the... Read More »
Military aircraft companies Sikorsky and Boeing have chosen Honeywell to provide the DEFIANT X advanced helicopter engine for the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition.
“DEFIANT X is a transformational aircraft and Honeywell is giving us a transformational engine to... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) last week announced the allocation of $4.5 million across three grant awards to create collaborative research centers in the United States, focusing specifically on investigating treatments and vaccines specifically related to Valley Fever.
These centers... Read More »
Years into a global pandemic, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and affiliated world leaders have called for fair, shared-based financing of approximately $23 billion in 2022 to overcome inequalities in medical access, scale-up countermeasure efforts, and end the COVID-19... Read More »
Distribution of Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’ oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine molnupiravir reached a new milestone this week, with approximately 3.1 million courses provided to the United States government.
The companies are increasing access to the drug internationally, and according... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a five-year, $17 million contract to Battelle to conduct research that advances health protection for the warfighter in present and near-future operational environments, the company announced Wednesday.
Awarded under the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Airman... Read More »
Phase 2 testing of a Lyme disease vaccine candidate, VLA15, produced strong immune responses, according to the newest data from Valneva SE and Pfizer inc, prompting preparations for a Phase 3 study in the third quarter of 2022.
The VLA15-221 trial produced stronger responses in adult... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a contract to Detect, Inc. last week for the development of an over-the-counter test capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2, as well as influenza A and B, within 30 minutes.
This rapid diagnostic – the Detect COVID/Flu Test... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded more than $4.5 million in total awards this week to support research into valley fever being conducted by the Universities of California-San Francisco, California-Los Angeles, and Texas-San Antonio.
That money will be... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awarded full approval to Moderna, Inc’s Spikevax vaccine for COVID-19 last week, greenlighting the mRNA vaccine for use without restriction on adults and making it the second COVID-19 vaccine to earn the measure.
Approval was based on endorsement of... Read More »
The University of Maryland (UMD) has secured a Department of Defense (DOD) award totaling nearly $4 million to support data collection efforts on terrorism-related projects and other asymmetric threats.
The DOD would fund data collection on several projects that include the Study of Terrorism... Read More »
Citing data from six preclinical studies, Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics last week announced that their oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine, molnupiravir, maintained efficacy against the widespread Omicron variant.
These in vitro lab studies were independently organized and conducted by... Read More »
Brittany Global Technologies, based in New Bedford, Mass., has secured a $1.3 million Department of Defense (DoD) contract for industrial base production of Berry Amendment compliant fabrics for military uniforms.
“This increased capacity will ensure the U.S. government continues to have... Read More »
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a lawsuit to block Lockheed Martin Corporation from the vertical acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc to prevent critical market consolidation.
Regulators argued the $4.4 billion acquisition effort would remove the last independent U.S.... Read More »
Moderna, Inc. dosed the first participant this week for its Phase 2 study of a COVID-19 booster vaccine tailored to the omicron variant, mRNA-1273.529, kicking off a two cohort trial that will span the United States.
In all, approximately 300 participants will be enrolled in each cohort. One... Read More »
BAE Systems officials said the company has secured a Marine Corps contract award totaling $169 million for 33 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs).
“BAE Systems is dedicated to helping the Marines meet their expeditionary and Force Design 2030 needs,” John Swift, director of amphibious programs... Read More »
Drawing from a $200 million program meant to stimulate the development of vaccines with broad betacoronavirus protection, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced a $16.9 million award this week for development efforts by BioNet.
BioNet, a French-Thai vaccine... Read More »
In support of the federal Project BioShield incentivization effort, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) recently launched a Request for Proposals for late-stage development, approval, and procurement of an antibiotic capable of overcoming... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) 100 Days Mission to reduce the vaccine development timeline received a $300 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome.
While a fraction of the organization’s overall fundraising goal of $3.5 billion,... Read More »
Under a long-term agreement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced this week, Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics have agreed to provide 3 million courses of COVID-19 oral antiviral molnupiravir for use in low and middle-income countries.
Distribution will occur throughout... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) recently collaborated to advance COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in Africa.
CEPI seeks to develop vaccines against future epidemics, while IPD is a non-profit public interest foundation located in... Read More »
A new partnership between governmental, military, and academic scientists seeks to collaboratively develop a vaccine over the next five years capable of protecting against tularemia, melioidosis, and plague from a single source.
Aided by a $10 million grant for the Defense Threat Reduction... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officials said the agency has selected 10 industry and university research teams for the Enhanced Night Vision in Eyeglass Form (ENVision) program.
Authorities indicated ENVision's goal is to leverage recent advances in night vision (NV) systems... Read More »
Expanding options for individuals with COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) last week recommended two additional drugs for treatment: the oral inhibitor known as baricitinib and the monoclonal antibody drug sotrovimab.
Baricitinib is meant for use by those with severe or critical... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has coordinated with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to purchase 380 million over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits.
Contracts were awarded to Orlando, Florida-based Abbott Rapid Dx North America, LLC; Mountain View, California's iHealth Lab... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday that it has exercised a contract option to continue its contract with Motorola to operate and maintain the U.S. Navy’s land mobile radio (LMR) system.
The $29 million contract supports continued critical radio communications at U.S. Navy... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced Monday that it had awarded contracts to Atlantic Trading, LLC, of Austin, Texas and Medea, Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif., that would purchase a combined total of 27 million over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits.
The contracts will support President Joe... Read More »
According to GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) and Vir Biotechnology, Inc., the United States government this week agreed to purchase another 600,000 doses of the COVID-19 antibody treatment sotrovimab, which will be distributed in this first quarter of 2022.
The arrangement stems from an amendment to... Read More »
Amid rising breakthrough cases of COVID-19, largely fueled by the spread of the omicron variant, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week shortened the time between primary and booster vaccination with a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to five months.
This revised timeline was reflected in... Read More »
As part of President Joe Biden’s pledge to provide 500 million free at-home COVID-19 tests throughout the United States, the Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a $51.6 million contract to Goldbelt Security, LLC for delivery of test kits.
Kits will be provided over the counter at no cost... Read More »
An assessment is ongoing to determine the extent and source of a ransomware attack on the New Mexico cities of Albuquerque, Los Ranchos, and Tijeras, which took affected systems offline and severed network connections, forcing most county buildings to shutter on Jan. 5.
While employees continued... Read More »
The Navy has reached a five-year agreement worth up to $154 million with BAE Systems for the firm to continue supporting the Naval Air Warfare Center Webster Outlying Field.
“Those on the front lines need rapid integration of the latest technologies to ensure open, clear, secure, and reliable... Read More »
While Cue Health already has a COVID-19 test on the market capable of detecting the widespread omicron variant, the organization announced that it will work with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to create a point-of-care test specifically focused on rooting out... Read More »
The U.S. Army has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a five-year contract valued at over $1 billion to produce the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS).
The agreement would address low-rate initial production and full-rate production, touting IBCS’s open, modular, and scalable... Read More »
Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA) and Former Secretary of Energy under the Obama administration Ernest J. Moniz, co-founders of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said they applaud the position of world leaders that a nuclear war “cannot be won,” in a statement Monday.
The statement comes in... Read More »
