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Sandia National Laboratories personnel are espousing the benefits of its Sandia Programs Engineering and Assembly Research (SPEAR) facility, which officials said would expand weapons modernization testing capacity.
Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security... Read More »
A pair of investigational drugs targeting antibiotic-resistant infections will receive nearly $20 million in initial funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support phase two and three clinical trials and other efforts to reach U.S. Food and Drug... Read More »
The United Nations reported a major milestone this week for the global Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator initiative, collecting nearly $1 billion in new financing to guarantee tests, treatment and vaccines for COVID-19.
The ACT Accelerator is a joint effort by the World Health... Read More »
The Denver Health and Hospital Authority signed a $3 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to demonstrate the effectiveness of a Regional Disaster Health Response System... Read More »
A phase one trial of a COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Moderna, Inc. brought positive results, triggering strong immune responses among older volunteers while proving well-tolerated.
According to a report published this... Read More »
BARDA is partnering with Inversa to develop a treatment for eye problems associated with DNA damage, particularly those caused by chemical agents like sulfur mustard gas.
Ingrained in the public mind since its widespread use in WWI, sulfur mustard is a means of chemical warfare that causes the... Read More »
A new report from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) says some gaps need to be addressed in the international system to prevent and respond to biological events.
NTI is calling on national and global leaders to take action now to prevent future biological events that could match or exceed the... Read More »
Cecil County, Maryland officials said first responders there are recipients of a new, purpose-built FirstNet cell site - providing a boost in wireless communications.
"This is great news for Earleville, Cecil County, and the surrounding areas,” Maryland State Sen. Steve Hershey (R-Dist. 36)... Read More »
Kynamics of Mountain View, Calif., has secured a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) language translation capabilities funding award.
The $192,520 in Phase 1 funding would yield a portable, standalone... Read More »
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is revealing major gaps in national readiness to prepare for, respond to, and recover from biological threats, requiring that decision makers consider improved policies, programs, and technologies to ramp up the federal defense, experts said during the Sept. 24 virtual... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program awarded $1 million to InferLink Corp. to develop a tool for sharing cybersecurity information.
Inferlink, based in El Segundo, Calif., awarded the Phase II contract to InferLink based on the successful... Read More »
In an effort to better track COVID-19 infections, the Luminex Corporation and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) have partnered on the creation of a more advanced serology test.
This latest effort is based on the xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay, a... Read More »
A new, phase three clinical trial for Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies’ investigational COVID-19 vaccine began recruiting adult volunteers this week to see if a single dose could prevent symptomatic cases.
The trial will enroll up to 60,000 volunteers at nearly 215 clinical research sites in... Read More »
As part of a 250-325 household study spanning three countries, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will participate in a $7.1 million effort to investigate some of the unanswered questions surrounding COVID-19 and influenza transmission.
Among those questions being... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) expanded its partnership with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 antigen test.
The Vitros antigen test is designed for the rapid detection of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is intended for... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has joined University of Pennsylvania researchers from two labs to build lung-on-a-chip technology, which promises a safe means of studying chlorine gas effects and the discovery of treatments.
Chlorine gas was used as a weapon... Read More »
The global initiative known as the COVAX facility announced major news for all seeking relief from the COVID-19 pandemic: a total of 156 economies have banded together under the program, guaranteeing both robust and lower income economies will get vaccines.
This week marked the formal commitment... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) convened a meeting of more than 40 experts worldwide to address the need for better oversight of biotechnology research.
Biotechnology research is essential for reducing pandemic threats and supporting global health. However, scientific advances in the life... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said the agency has posted a request for information regarding portable radio repeater products.
The initiative targets emergency responder community indoor and subterranean environments. S&T’s National... Read More »
Under a new agreement with the European Commission, Sanofi and GSK will provide up to 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union in exchange for manufacturing scale-up support.
The vaccine in question is based on a mix of Sanofi’s recombinant protein-based technology --... Read More »
More than 90 organizations representing scientists, physicians, health providers, as well as patients and medical advocates are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure that reviews of COVID-19 vaccine candidates meet all regulatory standards prior to authorization.
“While we are... Read More »
Officials representing the engineering and project management firm Bechtel said its Pueblo Team safely eliminated nearly 300,000 155mm chemical weapons projectiles stored at the Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.
The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) team executed the... Read More »
Eli Lilly and Company announced a new collaboration with Amgen last week that will allow a significant increase in supply capacity and scaling of production of its potential COVID-19 therapies.
The news came a mere day after Lilly announced that proof of concept data from its BLAZE-1 clinical... Read More »
Federal agencies have partnered with Ology Bioservices to expand the capacity for filling and finishing vials for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs in the United States.
The joint effort includes the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Department of Defense’s Joint... Read More »
Global leaders gather for a virtual session of the 75th United Nations General Assembly this month, and as proceedings got underway, the World Health Organization (WHO) took the opportunity to push for three actions it deems key to the collective future.
Foremost among these concerns a weight on... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is looking to innovate in terms of COVID-19 tools, and as a result, has awarded seven contracts to a mix of companies and academic institutions for things like smartphone apps, wearable devices, and software.
These technologies could aid in several... Read More »
House Republican leaders are seeking information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how it plans to manage COVID-19 response efforts in addition to the flu and other respiratory issues this season.
“We share your concerns about the unprecedented convergence of two... Read More »
With the development of the drug ganaxolone (GNX), Marinus Pharmaceuticals and BARDA hope to create an anticonvulsant capable of halting damaging seizures in their tracks, even those caused by deadly nerve agents like the odorless, colorless liquid, Sarin.
Some seizures have proven resilient to... Read More »
Phase three trials have resumed for the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, after pausing for safety concerns raised when an enrollee came down with an unexplained illness that was later determined to be unrelated to the experimental vaccine.
One of the leading candidates in the... Read More »
The development of a diagnostic tool for assessing, diagnosing, reporting, and tracking COVID-19 patients by 98point6 is now being supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The tool, originally used to treat and track influenza infections, also utilizes a... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) personnel recently partnered with the Colorado Rockies, as well as state, local, and federal authorities in a safety initiative.
Officials recently outlined a virtual tabletop exercise reviewing... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation last week seeking to provide $118.9 million in funding for the organization and strengthen global COVID-19 vaccine efforts.
The funds provided under the Abiding by U.S. Commitments Act would be a continuation of dues the... Read More »
A new report says investment in data and artificial intelligence (AI) is needed to drive the health system improvements needed to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study – called Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity -- was... Read More »
International Air Transport Association (IATA) officials maintain governments should initiate planning with the industry to ensure preparedness when COVID-19 vaccines are approved and ready for distribution.
“Safely delivering COVID-19 vaccines will be the mission of the century for the... Read More »
A top COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University was forced to halt phase 3 trials this week after a volunteer became ill, signaling an adverse reaction that could delay the effort at immunization development.
The pause was announced as a standard review of... Read More »