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Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston recently developed a cheaper way to create vaccines without sacrificing their safety or effectiveness.
The way forward focuses on cost-cutting in both storage and production. Traditionally, many vaccines are... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions completed its acquisition of PaxVax, a company that develops specialty vaccines that protect against infectious diseases typhoid and cholera.
Emergent now has two PaxVax vaccines – Vivotif, which treats typhoid fever, and Vaxchora, which treats cholera. Emergent acquired... Read More »
Defense contractors Raytheon and Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace will compete for the right to be mission payload providers on the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared missile warning satellite system.
The next-gen system replaced the traditional Space Based Infrared... Read More »
The University of Montana is responsible for the creation of a new universal flu vaccine, under a five-year, $10 million contract awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The award was granted to Jay Evans, director of UM’s Center for Translational Medicine, who will be joined by... Read More »
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands and Keio University in Japan are currently exploring infectious disease test alternatives through the use of a special glowing paper strip, a drop of blood, and a digital camera.
The study, published in the journal... Read More »
Israel-based Morphisec has received $200,000 from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to develop technology solutions to prevent financial institution cyberattacks.
Morphisec will work to extend, deploy, test, and evaluate a Moving Target Defense... Read More »
A study conducted by New York University confirmed that text messages are a rapid means of information spread amidst public health crises, representing an invaluable means of data sourcing.
"Sourcing data from individuals directly, such as through mobile phones, has the potential to provide... Read More »
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) announced this week that it would take part in an experimental treatment for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) currently being pursued by international cooperation.
Their involvement focuses on ZMapp, a treatment that utilizes three antibodies as part of its... Read More »
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) recently named Edward Parkinson acting CEO of FirstNet Authority.
Parkinson was a staff member on the House Homeland Security Committee... Read More »
Texas A&M University was selected to lead a consortium of U.S. academic institutions, among others, for a new Center of Excellence (COE) for Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS).
The project will be funded by a $3.85 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Human and Human Services (DHHS) has contracted with the company Genentech in managing and sharing the cost to develop a portfolio of medical treatments designed to counter the spread of influenza and other health security threats.
DHHS, operating through its Biomedical... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) selected BAE Systems this week for a new research and development contract to address current and future technology needs among the military.
In so doing, DOD has also put Bae Systems in the running for future contract task orders -- one of 15 companies to... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is sponsoring Siga Technologies on its development of an intravenous formulation of TPOXX -- a smallpox antiviral medication of which DHHS is currently purchasing additional doses.
“We want to save as many lives as possible after a... Read More »
Boeing has secured a $9.2 billion Air Force contract to produce T-X aircraft, which officials said would replace the Air Education and Training Command's 57-year-old fleet of T-38C Talons.
The agreement calls for Boeing to deliver 351 T-X aircraft, 46 simulators and associated ground equipment,... Read More »
Two institutions are taking up the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) call for more affordable, improved and adapted antibiotic formulations for children in low and middle-income countries, with an agreement focused on enhancing generic antibiotics and access.
The participants are the... Read More »
Whether for search and rescue or warfare operations, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced last week their efforts to advance current understanding of underground environments, and the formation of a competition of nine teams to do so.
The recently selected teams... Read More »
Rockwell Collins’ military ground radio achieved a major milestone recently as the National Security Agency (NSA) issued the company’s device a Type-1 certification.
Officials said certification for the AN/PRC-162(V)1 RT-2048(C)U validates that the radio provides protected handling of... Read More »
A recently released Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) report suggests nuclear weapons and related systems are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and implores nuclear-armed states to take measures to prevent attacks.
“Nuclear Weapons in the New CyberAge: A Report of the Cyber-Nuclear Weapons... Read More »
The United Nations set forth a goal of eliminating a global tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, as well as to treat 40 million people infected by the disease by 2022 and push forward infection prevention measures in the same timeframe.
A meeting held by the body’s General Assembly this week marked... Read More »
The United States announced during the United Nations General Assembly in New York Tuesday the AMR Challenge, the “most ambitious global initiative” for combating antibiotic resistance (AMR).
Led by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Centers for Disease Control and... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) unveiled a new partnership with SeLux Diagnostic, Inc. this week with the goal of developing faster tests for bacterial infection identification and matching those individual infections with appropriate antibiotics.
The Biomedical Advanced... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is teaming up with Israeli company MediWound Ltd. in the creation of a new treatment of skin injuries resulting from exposure to sulfur mustard.
Sulfur mustard, more commonly known as mustard gas, has seen devastating use since World War I,... Read More »
In a move the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association warn could threaten public health responses, the Trump Administration has transferred funds from infectious disease prevention, care, and biomedical research programs into its unaccompanied alien children... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $2.38 billion contract for replacement helicopters.
The original cost estimate for the program was about $4.1 billion. Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson said that the $1.7 billion in savings was due to strong competition.
The first helicopter... Read More »
Fiji is subjected to a smallpox outbreak where social norms breakdown and medical experts scramble to get the outbreak under control.
This wasn’t reality, but it was the simulation exercise for participants of a workshop held last month at the University of New South Wales Sydney. The event... Read More »
During the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Sept. 25, Alex Azar, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary, will call on world leaders to address the evolving threat of antibiotic resistance.
Failure to prepare for and reverse antibiotic resistance could lead to... Read More »
Researchers from Harvard University urged government officials this week to develop new measures to detect and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, like dengue fever, in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In a report published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers --... Read More »
Rockwell Collins, a commercial and military aviation systems company, recently was awarded a long-term contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to supply the department with the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS).
MUOS are airborne radios and ancillaries for ground installations and... Read More »
As part of an effort to counter multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the TB Alliance are collaborating -- with monetary support from the Medical Research Council (MRC) -- to investigate new combination TB therapies.
A £1 million ($1.3... Read More »
The nation-spanning public safety communications platform known as FirstNet is now used by more than 2,500 public safety agencies in the United States.
This system was built to upgrade public safety information technology, and was developed through the joint efforts of AT&T and the First... Read More »
BAE Systems sealed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to begin transitioning military-developed semiconductor technology to their Advanced Microwave Products (AMP) Center for enhancement and cost-cutting.
The U.S. Air Force created gallium Nitride (GaN)... Read More »
A Phase 1 trial is underway for a new nasal flu vaccination designed for ages 9 to 17 years old.
Testing is taking place at Saint Louis University, with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Unlike traditional flu vaccines, which must be reformulated... Read More »
A new test, according to information presented to the European Respiratory Society International Congress, can identify viral infections in just 50 minutes -- something that could save hospitals approximately €2,500 ($2922) per patient prevented from requiring admission.
The other advantage of... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded contracts to five researchers to develop new methods to identify Network/Internet-scale Disruptive Events (NIDEs).
When internet connectivity is disrupted, it can have a major impact on critical... Read More »
A research team has uncovered how W protein -- a viral protein that factors into both Nipah and Hendra virus infections -- targets critical cell functions, leading to suppression of immune responses and spreading of these viruses.
W protein binds to proteins in the host cells and allows for... Read More »
