Research
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Chimerix, Inc.’s smallpox therapeutic TEMBEXA last week marked a medical achievement and a milestone for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
BARDA itself was created in 2006. It began collaborating with... Read More »
A professor at Georgia State University’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Sang-Moo Kang, received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) last week for a study of seasonal and universal vaccination in elderly... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Homeland Security Committee Chairman; Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman; John Katko (R-NY), Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member, and James Comer (R-KY), Oversight and Reform Committee Ranking Member, announced the... Read More »
According to new research from National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists at the Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the oral antiviral drug TEMPOL could limit SARS-CoV-2 infection capabilities.
Though still considered experimental, the drug’s... Read More »
Air Force officials said the branch has awarded a $91.8 million task order to KBR, Inc. to provide engineering services for aircraft and other system components.
The scope of work will involve elements managed by the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing (SCMW), focusing on research, analysis, and... Read More »
With $4.2 million in funding from the Henry Jackson Foundation and a new partnership with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Centivax Inc. intends to pursue phase one clinical development of Centi-B9, a broad-spectrum injectable for treating SARS-CoV-2.
Unlike other vaccines and... Read More »
Basel, Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company BioVersys has secured a $4.35 million funding allotment from CARB-X to develop new antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections caused by ESKAPE pathogens.
The pathogens are identified as bacteria that have developed resistance to most current,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched its first venture capital public-private partnership dedicated to developing technologies and medical products for public health emergencies with the nonprofit Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC).
“While we tackle the... Read More »
Following its development by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a human, phase one clinical trial to determine the safety and immunogenicity of a nanoparticle-based, universal influenza... Read More »
Another COVID-19 vaccine may soon be on the way: Sanofi and GSK began enrollment for a phase three, global clinical study of their adjuvanted recombinant-protein vaccine candidate, with the anticipation it could be approved by the end of the year.
Approval will, of course, depend on results, and... Read More »
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 pandemic situation is stabilizing in nations with advanced vaccination programs, but it is surging in other, less equipped areas, demanding action lest the future become a repeat of present failures.
WHO urges the distribution of 2... Read More »
A new collaborative effort between Battelle, a science and technology research and development firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio; the Ohio State University; and Northwestern University hopes to combat the “infodemic” of false and misleading information online surrounding the COVID-19... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) awarded $7.1 million grant funding to an Oxford University study assessing if COVID-19 vaccine regimens can be mixed.
These funds will complement $3 million of funding already granted from the U.K. government and support from the... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added another tool to the fight against COVID-19 this week, granting emergency use authorization (EUA) to the monoclonal antibody therapy sotrovimab for use against mild to moderate COVID-19 cases in those 12 years and older.
The EUA was granted to... Read More »
The nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) | bio virtually convened an interdisciplinary group of experts and world leaders earlier this month to push for a global organization to reduce biotechnology risks, promote biosecurity and strengthen international oversight of life sciences... Read More »
Thanks to a $400,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security will document, evaluate and spread information on large-scale health successes among the COVID-19 response in low and middle-income nations over the past year.
This information will be used... Read More »
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) officials said the organization has expanded its partnership with SK bioscience to develop a vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern.
The agreement calls for CEPI to earmark up to $173.4 million for SK bioscience's to COVID-19... Read More »
Plans are underway to submit the Moderna, Inc. COVID-19 vaccine to regulators in early June to expand its use, following positive results from a Phase 2/3 study that distributed the vaccine among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old.
The vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, met its primary immunogenicity... Read More »
As part of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss Confederation, the first facility in the WHO BioHub System was agreed to this week.
Such facilities, first announced in November 2020, will serve as centers for reception, sequencing, storage,... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said the agency has partnered with South Korea to conduct a civil aviation security technology field demonstration.
DHS personnel said the agreement with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said the agency is partnering with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), seeking large capacity floating device solutions.
To that end, the entities will conduct a virtual Industry Day on May 25, 2021, to discuss the... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) launched a new survey this week to assess the vaccine manufacturing capacity and capabilities of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, to better inform ahead of future epidemics.
“While incredible efforts were... Read More »
Up to $4.1 million in non-dilutive funding from nonprofit CARB-X was announced this week for Summit Therapeutics to help develop a first-in-class antibiotic to treat multidrug-resistant infections, and specifically, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections.
This funding will aid... Read More »
A Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.-created drug cocktail of casirivimab with imdevimab, REGEN-COV, was recently shown to provide a 70 percent reduced risk of hospitalization or death and shortened symptom duration in non-hospitalized patients afflicted with COVID-19.
The drug cocktail is meant... Read More »
Across all adult age groups, going as high as 95 years old, a phase two trial of the Sanofi and GSK adjuvanted recombinant COVID-19 vaccine candidate has demonstrated high antibody responses and no safety concerns, according to interim data released this week.
Strong immune responses included a... Read More »
The results of a real-world Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of 1,843 health workers across the United States showed last week that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are 94 percent effective.
Currently approved mRNA vaccines... Read More »
Fearing for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, COVAX has set up a manufacturing task force to coordinate with other organizations in identifying and tackling roadblocks to those critical health supplies.
According to the task force, the production output of COVID-19 vaccines is set to... Read More »
In a public statement released last week, nine national organizations highlighted the pains COVID-19 inflicted upon the world in general and already historically marginalized populations in specific and pressed for strategies to improve crisis standards of care, along with equity.
“The... Read More »
A new low-cost, rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19 developed by Penn Medicine provides results within four minutes and is 90 percent accurate.
According to a paper published this week in Matter, the test – RAPID 1.0 (Real-time Accurate Portable Impedimetric Detection prototype 1.0) – is... Read More »
Biotechnology company INOVIO revealed that the placebo-controlled and blinded phase two segment of a United States clinical vaccine trial has shown positive, safe, and well-tolerated results for INO-4800 when used against COVID-19.
As a result of the test results, a 2 mg dose will be used for... Read More »
America’s historically underfunded public health system played a major role in the nation’s laggard COVID-19 response, according to a new report released by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).
And while it’s too soon to calculate with precision, it is likely that the United States... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced Friday it has awarded researchers at the University of Texas Medica Branch (UTMB) at Galveston $11.3 million to study Ebola.
The multiyear grant will fund research into the immunopathogenesis of Ebola, specifically why cells... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has exercised the final $12 million option to produce the remaining $202 million smallpox vaccine order.
The order would be supplied by JYNNEOS, encompassing the Smallpox and Monkeypox vaccine. The option covers the supply of... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Dynavax Technologies Corporation expanded the terms of a manufacturing agreement last week to include an additional $77 million for adjuvant used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The funding injection, provided in the form of a forgivable loan... Read More »
A new report by the General Accountability Office (GAO) found that most of the U.S. nuclear triad is nearing or past their planned end-of-life dates and that the Departments of Defense and Energy must plan their replacements carefully.
The report found that most of the nuclear triad, three... Read More »
