Research
A cooperative effort between The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) gave life to the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey (CARES) this week, to chart how many people in Texas have COVID-19... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded contracts this week to ICON Government & Public Health Solutions, Pharm-Olam LLC, PRA Health Sciences, Inc., and Technical Resources International, Inc. for the development of various medical countermeasures.
Granted... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health kicked off a large, phase three clinical trial last week to chart the safety and efficacy of three modulator drugs being considered for use on patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
The three drugs to be used are Janssen Research & Development, LLC’s infliximab... Read More »
A randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics has generated conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of repurposed drugs -- like remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine, among others -- to treat COVID-19.
The results from the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, coordinated by the World Health... Read More »
A new report by the Rand Corporation finds that Facebook users would be less likely to spread Russian propaganda if they knew it emanated from a Russian source.
Russia uses political memes to polarize Americans, particularly those at the extreme ends of the political spectrum, according to Rand... Read More »
Another COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise for antibodies produced, at least in preclinical results released by Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio last week for their mRNA-based offering, MRT5500.
The candidate produced neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Beckman Coulter are joining forces to fund a multi-center clinical trial of Beckman Coulter’s Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW) hematology biomarker, a test meant to rapidly detect MIS-C.
MIS-C, or Multisystem Inflammatory... Read More »
Researchers with the U.S. Army Futures Command are developing alternative ways to measure COVID-19 antibody levels that are faster, easier, and less expensive.
Their work revolves around finding alternatives to measuring virus neutralization, or VN, titers. This process is the gold standard of... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) launched a study to determine whether certain approved therapies or investigational drugs show promise against COVID-19.
The ACTIV-5 Big Effect Trial is being conducted in partnership with the National Institutes of Health’s... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and David Schweikert (R-CA) commended the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) for establishing a research initiative to treat and prevent Valley Fever.
The NIAID recently issued a notice of funding opportunity to establish a... Read More »
A $481 million award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Department of Defense (DoD) this week will help Cue Health, Inc. expand the production capacity of a cartridge-based point-of-care molecular test for COVID-19.
With the fund injection, Cue aims to... Read More »
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) announced greater collaboration with AstraZeneca last week, specifically aimed at the late-stage development and manufacturing of its COVID-19 treatment, AZD7442.
AZD7442 is a drug cocktail made up of two monoclonal... Read More »
Congressional leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are seeking a review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of cybersecurity incident response capabilities of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The E&C leaders said the HHS needs to be able to manage... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) personnel are espousing the benefits of the department’s DARPA’s Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program.
Authorities said RACER seeks to ensure algorithms are not the limiting part of the system and... Read More »
Election interference has sounded many alarms this year, all the way to the White House and the halls of Congress. Now, the Rand Corporation is warning that a coordinated effort on Twitter to influence and provoke chaos during the upcoming presidential election is underway.
“Social media has... Read More »
Under a new partnership, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will collaborate with Current Health to develop an algorithm based on a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved wearable monitor to predict the need for COVID-19 hospitalization.
By forecasting the... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is one of four companies collaborating to provide hyperimmune globulin products for a new federal clinical trial that will test the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a combination treatment regimen for COVID-19.
The regimen consists of the antiviral remdesivir plus... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill that would give the president the authority to sanction foreign nations that try to steal American research on COVID-19.
The Defend COVID Research from Hackers Act authorizes sanctions that would specifically target a... Read More »
A new test being developed by molecular diagnostics company Cepheid gained support from federal agencies this week, on the promise that it could become a one-stop-shop for diagnosing COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.
Support is coming from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its Homeland Threat Assessment (HTA) – a report that synthesizes threat information across DHS, including intelligence and operational components.
“This HTA is as close as the American people will get to seeing and understanding the... Read More »
Biological materials management and standards organization ATCC has secured a potential 10-year, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The agreement, which possesses a ceiling value of $250 million,... Read More »
Over the course of three years, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will pay approximately $22 million to Vaxxas to fund phase 1 clinical trials in the U.S. and Australia for a high-density microarray patch capable of administering vaccines needle-free.
This comes... Read More »
A joint effort between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) brought $98.35 million to COVID-19 testing efforts this week, as part of six contracts awarded under the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative.
The... Read More »
Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) -- a global non-profit dedicated to antibacterial research – is awarding up to $2.5 million to GangaGen Biotechnologies to develop novel antibacterial proteins.
GangaGen, based in Bangalore, India, will develop... Read More »
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers maintain they have developed a means of increasing primary SARS-CoV-2 virus testing sensitivity to help identify those who are asymptomatic.
Findings published in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry outlined a mathematical... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has partnered with Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc. to develop a new monoclonal antibody therapeutic for all seven major types of Botulinum Neurotoxin.
Botulinum is an incredibly lethal substance responsible for botulism, though it... Read More »
With an initial five laboratories, the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has launched a network of labs worldwide, collectively focused on helping COVID-19 vaccine developers uniformly evaluate and identify successful candidates.
By centralizing, the hope is to assess and... Read More »
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has selected Tufts University to spearhead a $100 million program to assess and address zoonotic viral disease threats such as SARS-CoV-2.
The effort would target spillover from animals to humans to reduce the risk of infection,... Read More »
As part of a community-focused move, particularly among schools, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and The Rockefeller Foundation have agreed to identify and share effective approaches for using rapid point-of-care antigen tests to screen for COVID-19.
The pilot... 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 »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has awarded $1.96 million to a pair of businesses to aid emergency communication network risk management assessments.
Orem, Utah-based Achilles Heel Technologies and SecureLogix, of San Antonio,... 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 »
