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Top executives of FedEx and UPS assured Congress Thursday their firms have been preparing for months and are ready to transport hundreds of millions of doses of the fledgling COVID-19 vaccines, the first of which is expected to be approved by federal regulators as soon as Thursday.
“We’ve... Read More »
In tests conducted on mice, the ricin toxin vaccine RiVax -- developed by Soligenix, Inc. -- provided at least a full year’s worth of protection against the deadly agent.
Ricin is a lethal plant-derived toxin feared for its potential use as a bioterrorism and chemical warfare agent. Highly... Read More »
In a new report, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) warns of the risks related to the digitization and automation upgrade plans for U.S. nuclear weapons systems.
The report, U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization: Security and Policy Implications of Integrating Digital Technology, calls on the U.S.... Read More »
CARB-X, or Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, recently won an award from the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) for its progress in expanding the pipeline of innovative products to address antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The 2020 Innovating for Impact Partnership Award honors an... Read More »
According to research published this week in The Lancet journal, the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222 is safe and effective at preventing the disease, as well as protecting against illness and death.
No severe cases and no hospitalizations were required more than 21 days after the... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced plans this week to release guidance on the systematic screening of tuberculosis (TB), including an updated means of addressing the disease through new approaches, new technologies, and the latest evidence.
“Systematic screening is critical to... Read More »
Experts from 21 countries, industry, and non-government organizations gathered virtually last month for the 12th meeting of the Global Dialogue on Nuclear Security Priorities - focusing on enhancing nuclear security engagement.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) indicated the session addressed,... Read More »
Under the terms of a new agreement, Kaneka Eurogentec S.A. will help produce INOVIO’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800, joining a global manufacturing consortium that also includes Thermo Fisher Scientific, Richter-Helm BioLogics, and Ology Biosciences.
"Our partnership with Kaneka... Read More »
The latest test to be authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) represents a major milestone amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: the first combination test capable of detecting both COVID-19 and influenza A and B using samples collected at home.
“With just one swab or sample,... Read More »
According to a new report by IBM Security X-Force, malicious cyber actors are targeting the COVID-19 cold chain, an integral part of delivering and storing a vaccine at safe temperatures.
Cyber attackers, posing as officials from biomedical companies, are sending phishing emails to executives... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) is advocating equitable COVID-19 vaccine global access, noting that placing low and lower-middle-income nations (LLMICs) without access would cause significant economic damage.
The WHO-led ACT Accelerator serves a unique global collaboration supporting... Read More »
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 »
