Research
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 »
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 demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) has continued to increase while supply has been limited by rapid consumption and supply chain disruptions, according to a new study by the Congressional Research Service.
The Congressional Research Service report – called COVID-19 and... Read More »
A recently released National Security Agency (NSA) Cybersecurity Advisory maintains Russian entities have exploited virtual workspace vulnerability in VMware products to access protected data on affected systems.
The advisory details the importance for National Security System (NSS), Department... 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 »
Organizations gained an easy way to assess the costs of COVID-19 testing plans this week, in the form of a free, online calculator funded and launched by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Recognizing that... 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 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 »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the Department of Defense has made progress on efforts to improve the readiness and lethality of the U.S. Navy and Marines.
The significant readiness challenges have developed over more than a decade of conflict, budget uncertainty,... 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest global public health concerns and is projected to be so for the next three decades. In the United States alone, 2.8 million people contract an antibiotic-resistant infection, killing more than 35,000 people each year.
Approximately 15 percent of... 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 »
The Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded its first nine prototyping projects to bolster the industrial workforce sector.
The projects, valued at nearly $27 million, are in conjunction with the National Imperative for Industrial Skills initiative, also known as the Skills Imperative.
" A... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) criticized the Trump administration for what he calls its lack of action against foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and North Korea, that have launched cyber-attacks against American hospitals and research institutions in an attempt to steal information... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding supply chain issues mitigation.
While HHS is leading an effort to address medical supply chain issues related to the... Read More »
Three global health entities have formed a group they said would be charged with catalyzing global attention and action, preserving antimicrobial medicines, and averting the disastrous consequences of antimicrobial resistance.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World... Read More »
Results from clinical trials of AZD1222, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, made it the third major candidate to post late-stage data, with an average efficacy of 70 percent, but with a lower price point and needs than its competitors.
Whereas the two... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a pilot program for COVID-19 test kits that provide rapid results.
The pilot program for these portable, cartridge-based COVID-19 molecular test kits will be done in five states, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Texas, and... Read More »
After displaying 95 percent efficacy in their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Pfizer and BioNTeach have filed a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant them an emergency use authorization (EUA) that would allow its rollout next month.
High-risk populations will be the first... Read More »
Pennsylvania state officials are encouraging the poultry industry to expedite biosecurity practices in the wake of East Asia and Europe reporting Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) cases.
"Written biosecurity plans are good, but they are only effective when deliberately acted upon day in... Read More »
