Research
While many antibody tests today fail to identify neutralizing antibodies, Dr. Benjamin Larimer, a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has developed a diagnostic capable of accurately and quickly identifying these antibodies and showing people’s potential immunity to... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have released the Fiscal Year 2020 Enforcement Lifecycle Report, an analysis of enforcement outcomes for aliens encountered at the Southwest Border.
The report covers Fiscal Years 2014 through 2019. The Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS)... Read More »
A peer-reviewed report chronicling the phase three trial data of mRNA-1273, Moderna, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine, was released in the New England Journal of Medicine last week and confirmed its 94.1 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19.
Distribution of the vaccine has already begun in the... Read More »
CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is collaborating with an India-based pharmaceutical company to develop a COVID-19 subunit vaccine candidate.
The partnership is with Biological E Limited, or Bio E, a Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharmaceutical company. CEPI will... Read More »
The first U.S. case of a new strain of COVID-19 that originated in the U.K. has been confirmed in Colorado’s Elbert County, according to the Colorado State Laboratory.
The variant has cropped up in numerous locations throughout the world since its recent discovery -- and rapid spread -- in the... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions and Mount Sinai Health System began a program to evaluate Emergent’s COVID-19 Human Hyperimmune Globulin (COVID-HIG) candidate for phase one trials of its preventative capabilities among individuals at high risk of exposure.
“Emergent is pleased to partner with Mount... Read More »
In an effort funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Novavax, Inc. has begun enrolling volunteers for a phase three trial of NVX-CoV2373, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Volunteers can be... Read More »
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials noted operational successes within its fiscal year 2020 annual report, focusing on immigration laws enforcement and customs and immigration violation investigations.
“The men and women who represent ICE have risen to the challenges presented... Read More »
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $1.5 million grant to Soligenix, Inc. last week to aid manufacture, formulation, and characterization of COVID-19 and ebola virus disease vaccine candidates.
All will be pursued in conjunction with the CoVaccine HT... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered a chemical compound capable of working with natural bodily processes to break through antibiotic resistant bacteria and have published the results in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
Although attentions for many scientists have... Read More »
The Department of Energy has awarded a $3.8 billion contract to Battelle Savannah River Alliance (BRSA) to manage the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).
The agreement, which would span 10 years if all options are exercised, forms a partnership with a Battelle organization that includes... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a treatment for the Zaire Ebolavirus infection in adults and children.
The treatment is called Ebanga, a human monoclonal antibody that blocks the virus's binding to the cell receptor, thus preventing its entry into the cell.
Zaire... Read More »
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded more than $107 million to support new, non-traditional means of plugging gaps in COVID-19 testing and surveillance, as well as to develop platforms for future outbreaks.
The awards were given under a program... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has published the PNT Conformance Framework to bolster Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) resilience.
PNT services that include the Global Positioning System (GPS) serve a national function enabling... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced new partnerships with two organizations through its Partnership Intermediary Agreement Program.
The program was established to leverage the specialized skills of its partners and intermediaries to... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) have earmarked $37.6 million for COVID-19 treatment development.
A research team representing scientists from The Wistar Institute,... Read More »
Alion Science and Technology has secured a $41 million Army contract with a 60-month period of performance to aid the Aerial Delivery Analysis Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Soldier Center.
Under the task order, awarded under the Department of Defense Information Analysis... Read More »
Thanks to an expansion of a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Hologic, Inc. will accelerate the development of the Aptima SARS-CoV-2/Flu assay, dangling the promise of a test capable of differentiating between the pair.
Specifically, the test... Read More »
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are looking to improve the manufacturing of rapidly deployed structures to address future shortages of medical care and quarantine facilities during a health crisis, like the current pandemic.
The stress that COVID-19 has placed on medical... Read More »
World Health Organization (WHO) personnel and officials representing Sanofi, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, said the entities are partnering to readdress neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
“This decades-long collaboration exemplifies a successful public–private... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has initiated its DARPA Toolbox, which provides open licensing opportunities with commercial technology vendors to researchers behind DARPA programs.
“DARPA performers are frequently encumbered by having to negotiate access to tools, IP... Read More »
Bavarian Nordic A/S secured $83 million in funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) this week, marking a second investment into its JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from the U.S. government.
This follows a $106 million investment into the vaccine made in April,... Read More »
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health has launched a coalition to promote equitable vaccination distribution.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected communities of color in the country. Infection and mortality rates are highest in... Read More »
Three entities have initiated real-world testing efforts to determine the most effective measures to address the public transit virus spread reduction.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with the New York Metropolitan... Read More »
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) have partnered with the non-profit Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative on a phase 2 clinical trial to screen multiple potential COVID-19 drugs simultaneously.
Unlike many such trials, which focus on a single drug, this... Read More »
Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers maintain the coronavirus can be killed efficiently, quickly, and cheaply using ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs).
Scientists believe the UV-LED technology would soon be available for private and commercial use, suggesting installation in air... Read More »
Bastille Networks has secured a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) pact to address unwanted wireless device intrusions.
Through the Phase 5 Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), the Atlanta, Georgia-based... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) personnel said recent attempts at airborne retrieval of three unmanned air vehicles, nicknamed Gremlins, was inches from success in the latest flight test series.
During the initiative, which began on Oct. 28, each X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicle... Read More »
A COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Sanofi and GSK ran into trouble last week when interim results from a phase 1/2 study showed it to produce little immune response among older adults.
While the candidate showed sufficient results in those aged 18 to 49 years, researchers believe its lack of... Read More »
Roche has formed a partnership with Moderna to use its Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S, or COVID-19, antibody test in Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine research trials.
The Roche tests will provide a quantitative measurement of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and help to establish a correlation between... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $2 million R01 grant to a Virginia Tech research team to develop a single-dose Zika virus vaccine candidate.
"This grant focuses on a new strategy that we developed to produce safe and effective flavivirus vaccines," Jonathan Auguste, an... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will provide up to $10 million for the cost of a phase 1/2 study and materials manufacturing for a recombinant protein vaccine candidate (GBP510) created by South Korea-based SK bioscience.
This vaccine is meant for use against... 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 »
