Private
With flu season looming, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced plans this week to work with Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. to develop two rapid point-of-care antigen tests capable of detecting and differentiating between COVID-19 and influenza.
Both tests -- the... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has introduced a bill that encourages medical manufacturers to keep their manufacturing operations in the United States.
The Mobilize America to Manufacture Equipment Required for Independence from Communist Adversaries Act (Mobilize AMERICA Act) would provide an... Read More »
The U.S. Army has awarded a $66 million contract to Textron Systems Corporation for 36 Shadow aircraft in the latest Block III configuration.
“We are proud to maintain our strong partnership of more than 20 years with the U.S. Army on the Shadow program,” Textron Systems Senior Vice... Read More »
In preparation for rising cases of COVID-19, the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) have purchased an additional 650,000 doses of Eli Lilly and Company’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapeutic, bamlanivimab.
This puts the total number of... Read More »
Roche Diagnostics’ new Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 antibody test gained emergency use authorization (EUA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week, granting a new blood test to test those who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
The test detects antibodies directed against the... Read More »
Valneva SE, a biotech company headquartered in France, on Wednesday announced plans to accelerate the pediatric development of its Lyme disease vaccine candidate, VLA15, which is being co-developed with Pfizer Inc.
“We are pleased that Pfizer and Valneva have decided to accelerate this... Read More »
Smiths Detection has been awarded a $4 million contract by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to supply an explosives trace detector to airports across the United States.
The two-year contract is for the supply of Smiths IONSCAN 500 DT Explosives Trace Detection Systems (ETD). The... Read More »
The Army has awarded a $911 million contract to Oshkosh Defense to produce 2,738 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV), 1,001 companion trailers, and associated kits.
The contract represents the second largest order of Oshkosh Defense JLTVs. The equipment will be supplied to the Army, Navy,... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is expanding a contract with Chrysalis BioTherapeutics, Inc. to pursue the development of TP508, or Chrysalin, a peptide with the potential to counteract injuries resulting from extreme radiation exposure.
Radiation exposure can... Read More »
Public trust must be maintained in preparing for and responding to another large-scale biological event like the ongoing novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a former Trump administration emergency management expert told the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense on Monday.
Tom Bossert,... Read More »
With the temporary approval of the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the United Kingdom has become the first country to initiate an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine created by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech.
Earlier studies showed the vaccine to be 94.1... Read More »
New guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease have been developed through a collaboration between the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American College of Rheumatology.
The guidelines offer recommendations for... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) made several recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic to increase transparency and accountability among federal agencies.
The GAO report outlined that the United States has had more than 10 million cumulative cases of COVID-19 and... Read More »
Bayer officials said a newly introduced spray solution combats resistant mosquitoes and controls worldwide vector-borne diseases.
Fludora Co-Max addresses Aedes mosquito-borne arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya by combining two active ingredients with unrelated modes of action -... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tapped the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) to investigate a second COVID-19 on December 17: mRNA-1273, a Moderna, Inc. candidate that fared well in clinical testing.
Moderna recently announced the vaccine had... Read More »
With 94.1 percent efficacy figures pulled from a phase three COVE study of its mRNA-1273 vaccine for COVID-19, Moderna, Inc. has officially filed for emergency use authorization (EUA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The study consisted of more than 30,000 participants and, at... Read More »
Following a University of Alabama preclinical study of the Altimmune Inc. investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate AdCOVID, the company has submitted an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin Phase 1 clinical testing this month.
"We've made exceptional progress... Read More »
A new trial focused on dexamethasone, remdesivir, and baricitinib use on COVID-19 is underway at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), with plans to enroll as many as 1,500 hospitalized adult patients.
The fourth iteration of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial... Read More »
The Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $197.4 million contract to perform maintenance and modernization work aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp.
“BAE Systems is very familiar with USS Wasp, performing substantial upgrade work onboard before its forward deployment to Japan three years... Read More »
From April through June 2020, New York City hospitals were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, and now, a working group of 15 hospital intensive care unit directors and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security have reported on the successes and failures of that time.
“Crisis Standards of... Read More »
A preclinical study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that tetracycline-based antibiotics like methacycline, or drugs designed to combat Alzheimer’s and inflammation, may slow infection and reduce neurological problems associated with the Zika virus.
This conclusion was... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to allocate initial doses of Regeneron’s COVID-19 antibody therapeutic, casirivimab and imdevimab.
The treatments received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 21 for treatment of... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is seeking commercial technologies to enable night vision for first responders.
Interested parties should submit their products by 5:00 p.m. EST on Dec. 10 for inclusion in a market survey by S&T’s National... Read More »
Two federal contracts amounting to $25 million were awarded to Siemens Healthineers by the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) this month to develop and support domestic production of COVID-19 tests.
The tests use either a nose or possibly saliva sample... Read More »
With the need for nasal swabs for COVID-19 tests growing, the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) have awarded $11.6 million to Puritan Medical Products Company, LLC to expand the domestic production capacity of Cue Sample Wands.
This contract will... Read More »
Three global health entities have formed a group they said would be charged with catalyzing global attention and action, preserving antimicrobial medicines, and averting the disastrous consequences of antimicrobial resistance.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World... Read More »
Results from clinical trials of AZD1222, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, made it the third major candidate to post late-stage data, with an average efficacy of 70 percent, but with a lower price point and needs than its competitors.
Whereas the two... Read More »
After displaying 95 percent efficacy in their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Pfizer and BioNTeach have filed a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant them an emergency use authorization (EUA) that would allow its rollout next month.
High-risk populations will be the first... Read More »
A new line of X-ray scanners being offered by Viken Detection, ranging from handheld devices to vehicle-focused drive over scanners, offers law enforcement and others the possibility of greater flexibility and capability in contraband detection, including the possibility to see through... Read More »
Lucira Health nabbed the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for an at-home COVID-19 testing kit from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week, opening up a new option for patients age 14 or older who health care providers suspect of having COVID-19.
The diagnostic is a... Read More »
As the world moves closer to one or more potential COVID-19 vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has formed a collaborative effort to monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains and evaluate any impacts they may have on those candidates.
Other coalition... Read More »
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are seeking information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on BioSafety Level (BSL)-3 and Animal BSL (ABSL)-3 laboratory capacity to conduct animal model research for COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and... Read More »
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said the recent successful execution of a missile defense exercise serves as a milestone for the Aegis BMD SM-3 Block IIA program.
Navy sailors aboard the USS John Finn (DDG-113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System-equipped destroyer, intercepted and... Read More »
According to the Center for American Progress, an independent thinktank, violent crime rates dropped in 10 jurisdictions that enacted comprehensive police reform.
The group analyzed violent crime rates in 10 jurisdictions where the police department fulfilled a reform agreement with the U.S.... Read More »
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is advocating federal lawmakers and law enforcement agencies enhance hate crimes data collection and reporting in the wake of incidents rising.
The ADL said the call to action stems from the FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) report, determining 2019... Read More »
