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The violent suicide bombing that rocked downtown Nashville, Tenn., on Christmas morning and devastated dozens of businesses in the area also exposed the difficulties with an American reliance on reactive, rather than proactive, emergency planning efforts.
While much focus has been placed on... Read More »
Both Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) DRIVe and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) put out a call this week for comments on potential evaluation criteria and testing protocols for an improved mask design challenge.
Input will help... Read More »
A collaboration and services agreement united Bayer and CureVac N.V. this week in support of CureVac’s new class mRNA-based medicines, particularly its COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV.
Under the agreement, Bayer will support development, supply, and key territory operations through its... Read More »
At least 80 percent to 85 percent of Americans should receive the COVID-19 vaccine for the country to reach herd immunity, said National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins in a Jan. 6 interview with the Washington Post.
“Herd immunity requires the majority of a population to be... Read More »
A new report from the LaJolla Institute for Immunology has revealed that almost all survivors of COVID-19 have the immune cells necessary to fight re-infection.
Based on analyses of blood samples from 188 COVID-19 patients, the findings suggest that the immune system learns to fight specific... Read More »
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.28 billion sustainable contract from the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office.
This Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) supports operations and sustainment of the global F-35 fleet through June 30, 2021.
"This contract ensures F-35s remain ready to fly and... Read More »
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and NASCAR officials recently joined Daytona International Speedway personnel, first responders, and law enforcement officials in conducting a Daytona 500 fan safety tabletop exercise.
The exercise serves as an example of the planning and... Read More »
Under a $13.5 million contract, Bavarian Nordic A/S announced this week that it would provide supplies of its IMVANEX smallpox vaccine to three European governments in the first half of 2021.
“We are pleased to expand our sales of smallpox vaccines to other countries,” Paul Chaplin,... Read More »
The Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $4 million rapid response contract to conduct a quick-turnaround demonstration of a P-8A Poseidon radio frequency countermeasure (RFCM) system.
“The ability to meet this unprecedented response time underscores our agility, focus on meeting customer needs, and... Read More »
Dr. Barbara Alexander, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, chair of the HIV Medicine Association, called this week for swift action to overcome the hurdles slowing COVID-19 vaccine access and efforts to counter the raging pandemic.
“To address... Read More »
Laura McGill has been named Sandia National Laboratories deputy labs director and will lead its nuclear deterrence programs to support safety, security, and reliability excellence.
“I’m honored to join Sandia Labs and the tradition of serving the national security mission,” McGill said.... Read More »
While many antibody tests today fail to identify neutralizing antibodies, Dr. Benjamin Larimer, a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has developed a diagnostic capable of accurately and quickly identifying these antibodies and showing people’s potential immunity to... Read More »
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has acquired the autonomy business of Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. (SIS), indicating the acquisition expands HII’s unmanned systems capabilities with unmanned surface vessel (USV) solutions.
“We are excited to welcome the SIS autonomy business employees... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued emergency use validation for the Pfizer/BioNTech Comirnaty mRNA vaccine last week, ending 2020 by issuing the first such validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The global organization’s declaration will allow countries to expedite their regulatory... Read More »
A peer-reviewed report chronicling the phase three trial data of mRNA-1273, Moderna, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine, was released in the New England Journal of Medicine last week and confirmed its 94.1 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19.
Distribution of the vaccine has already begun in the... Read More »
CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is collaborating with an India-based pharmaceutical company to develop a COVID-19 subunit vaccine candidate.
The partnership is with Biological E Limited, or Bio E, a Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharmaceutical company. CEPI will... Read More »
The first U.S. case of a new strain of COVID-19 that originated in the U.K. has been confirmed in Colorado’s Elbert County, according to the Colorado State Laboratory.
The variant has cropped up in numerous locations throughout the world since its recent discovery -- and rapid spread -- in the... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions and Mount Sinai Health System began a program to evaluate Emergent’s COVID-19 Human Hyperimmune Globulin (COVID-HIG) candidate for phase one trials of its preventative capabilities among individuals at high risk of exposure.
“Emergent is pleased to partner with Mount... Read More »
Lockheed Martin personnel are touting the company's ability to produce and deliver F-35 aircraft amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm recently delivered the 123rd F-35 aircraft of the year. In 2020, 74 F-35s were delivered to the U.S. military, 31 to international partner nations, and 18 to... Read More »
In an effort funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Novavax, Inc. has begun enrolling volunteers for a phase three trial of NVX-CoV2373, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Volunteers can be... Read More »
Navy officials said the service branch has awarded a $57 million award potentially worth up to $250 million to Northrop Grumman to produce Coyote supersonic sea-skimming target (SSST) vehicles.
The initial 19 vehicles could result in an additional 84 target vehicles, bringing the GQM-163A... Read More »
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $1.5 million grant to Soligenix, Inc. last week to aid manufacture, formulation, and characterization of COVID-19 and ebola virus disease vaccine candidates.
All will be pursued in conjunction with the CoVaccine HT... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered a chemical compound capable of working with natural bodily processes to break through antibiotic resistant bacteria and have published the results in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
Although attentions for many scientists have... Read More »
The Department of Energy has awarded a $3.8 billion contract to Battelle Savannah River Alliance (BRSA) to manage the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).
The agreement, which would span 10 years if all options are exercised, forms a partnership with a Battelle organization that includes... Read More »
The federal government announced Wednesday that it would purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered next year.
Coordinated through the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD), Pfizer will have to meet several... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a treatment for the Zaire Ebolavirus infection in adults and children.
The treatment is called Ebanga, a human monoclonal antibody that blocks the virus's binding to the cell receptor, thus preventing its entry into the cell.
Zaire... Read More »
A group of U.S. Senators is commending the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their efforts to protect against counterfeit vaccines and personal protective equipment through Operation Stolen Promise 2.0.
“In April U.S. Immigration and Customs... Read More »
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded more than $107 million to support new, non-traditional means of plugging gaps in COVID-19 testing and surveillance, as well as to develop platforms for future outbreaks.
The awards were given under a program... Read More »
On behalf of 190 participating economies, the global COVAX initiative has secured access to nearly 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine candidates and plans to begin dispensing those doses early next year to protect vulnerable groups.
While most of the vaccine candidates involved are still under... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced new partnerships with two organizations through its Partnership Intermediary Agreement Program.
The program was established to leverage the specialized skills of its partners and intermediaries to... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) have earmarked $37.6 million for COVID-19 treatment development.
A research team representing scientists from The Wistar Institute,... Read More »
Alion Science and Technology has secured a $41 million Army contract with a 60-month period of performance to aid the Aerial Delivery Analysis Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Soldier Center.
Under the task order, awarded under the Department of Defense Information Analysis... Read More »
Thanks to an expansion of a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Hologic, Inc. will accelerate the development of the Aptima SARS-CoV-2/Flu assay, dangling the promise of a test capable of differentiating between the pair.
Specifically, the test... Read More »
A Moderna, Inc. vaccine is on track to become the second COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States, following this week's positive endorsement from the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC).
The VRBPAC, an advisory committee for the U.S. Food... Read More »
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are looking to improve the manufacturing of rapidly deployed structures to address future shortages of medical care and quarantine facilities during a health crisis, like the current pandemic.
The stress that COVID-19 has placed on medical... Read More »
