Research
A new report from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) says some gaps need to be addressed in the international system to prevent and respond to biological events.
NTI is calling on national and global leaders to take action now to prevent future biological events that could match or exceed the... Read More »
Victoria Coleman, appointed as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) 22nd director, received the oath of office from Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Kratsios.
Coleman, who most recently served as senior advisor on microelectronics... Read More »
Kynamics of Mountain View, Calif., has secured a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) language translation capabilities funding award.
The $192,520 in Phase 1 funding would yield a portable, standalone... Read More »
In an effort to better track COVID-19 infections, the Luminex Corporation and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) have partnered on the creation of a more advanced serology test.
This latest effort is based on the xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay, a... Read More »
A new, phase three clinical trial for Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies’ investigational COVID-19 vaccine began recruiting adult volunteers this week to see if a single dose could prevent symptomatic cases.
The trial will enroll up to 60,000 volunteers at nearly 215 clinical research sites in... Read More »
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) expressed gratitude to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) after the agency officially accepted her request to conduct an independent review of federal agencies' less-lethal weapons use.
Duckworth joined a group of lawmakers requesting the GAO to assess the... Read More »
As part of a 250-325 household study spanning three countries, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will participate in a $7.1 million effort to investigate some of the unanswered questions surrounding COVID-19 and influenza transmission.
Among those questions being... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) expanded its partnership with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 antigen test.
The Vitros antigen test is designed for the rapid detection of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is intended for... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has joined University of Pennsylvania researchers from two labs to build lung-on-a-chip technology, which promises a safe means of studying chlorine gas effects and the discovery of treatments.
Chlorine gas was used as a weapon... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) convened a meeting of more than 40 experts worldwide to address the need for better oversight of biotechnology research.
Biotechnology research is essential for reducing pandemic threats and supporting global health. However, scientific advances in the life... Read More »
More than 90 organizations representing scientists, physicians, health providers, as well as patients and medical advocates are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure that reviews of COVID-19 vaccine candidates meet all regulatory standards prior to authorization.
“While we are... Read More »
Eli Lilly and Company announced a new collaboration with Amgen last week that will allow a significant increase in supply capacity and scaling of production of its potential COVID-19 therapies.
The news came a mere day after Lilly announced that proof of concept data from its BLAZE-1 clinical... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is looking to innovate in terms of COVID-19 tools, and as a result, has awarded seven contracts to a mix of companies and academic institutions for things like smartphone apps, wearable devices, and software.
These technologies could aid in several... Read More »
America’s top public health officials earlier Wednesday briefed U.S. Senate subcommittee members on two documents outlining the Trump administration’s strategy to distribute over the next several months safe, effective and free COVID-19 vaccines to Americans as quickly as possible once the Food... Read More »
With the development of the drug ganaxolone (GNX), Marinus Pharmaceuticals and BARDA hope to create an anticonvulsant capable of halting damaging seizures in their tracks, even those caused by deadly nerve agents like the odorless, colorless liquid, Sarin.
Some seizures have proven resilient to... Read More »
Phase three trials have resumed for the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, after pausing for safety concerns raised when an enrollee came down with an unexplained illness that was later determined to be unrelated to the experimental vaccine.
One of the leading candidates in the... Read More »
The development of a diagnostic tool for assessing, diagnosing, reporting, and tracking COVID-19 patients by 98point6 is now being supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The tool, originally used to treat and track influenza infections, also utilizes a... Read More »
A new report says investment in data and artificial intelligence (AI) is needed to drive the health system improvements needed to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study – called Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity -- was... Read More »
International Air Transport Association (IATA) officials maintain governments should initiate planning with the industry to ensure preparedness when COVID-19 vaccines are approved and ready for distribution.
“Safely delivering COVID-19 vaccines will be the mission of the century for the... Read More »
A top COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University was forced to halt phase 3 trials this week after a volunteer became ill, signaling an adverse reaction that could delay the effort at immunization development.
The pause was announced as a standard review of... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) issued guidance for the clinical treatment of three of the most common drug-resistant pathogens.
While antibiotics save lives, the bacteria and other microbes can evolve in ways that enable them to resist a drug’s intended effect. Misuse or... Read More »
Amid fears of political pressures to rush a vaccine for COVID-19, nine CEOs of biopharmaceutical companies working on these candidates have signed a pledge to uphold the scientific process and safety in any development.
The companies include AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Johnson &... Read More »
The University of Chicago Medicine is conducting a clinical trial to study the potential of an antibody treatment for COVID-19.
For the trial, called BLAZE-1, the University of Chicago is recruiting 22 participants to be treated with the LY-CoV555 antibody developed by Eli Lilly and Company in... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is seeking handheld, portable and desktop explosives trace detectors (ETDs).
The agency recently released a request for information (RFI) for the devices, which possess the ability to analyze wipe samples... Read More »
A new facility -- the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility -- meant to house top-of-the-line labs for research into foreign animal diseases will soon transfer from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but outstanding issues could... Read More »
Sanofi and GSK began a phase 1/2 clinical trial of their jointly developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate last week, opening enrollment for 440 participants after pre-clinical studies show promising positive safety and immunogenicity.
The vaccine is based on the recombinant protein-based technology... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new report on its efforts to combat Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attacks, which could disrupt the electrical grid and potentially damage electronics.
The report, called the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Program Status Report, establishes... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health awarded $129.3 million for COVID-19 testing technologies as part of its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative.
The contracts went to nine companies for technologies that include portable point-of-care tests for immediate results or results within... Read More »
A Center for American Progress (CAP) report maintains there are lessons to be learned regarding 2016 election interference and addresses steps to shield future votes from such actions.
“America was caught off guard in 2016, but there are no excuses in future elections,” said James Lamond,... Read More »
The intravenously administered drug Kevzara will no longer be investigated as a potential COVID-19 treatment, Sanofi confirmed this week, after it failed to meet either its primary or secondary goals during a phase 3 trial among severely and critically ill patients.
Hundreds were tested with the... Read More »
A study run by collaborators from Imperial College London and Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre has found that the over the counter steroid hydrocortisone improves recovery changes among patients critically ill with COVID-19.
"The studies published today show that we now have more... Read More »
The virus that causes COVID-19 has mutated minimally since December 2019, according to a study by a team of scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
The research team arrived at this conclusion after conducting a genetic analysis of sequences from more than 27,000 individuals... Read More »
Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline dosed the first patient last week in a phase 2/3 study with its COVID-19 treatment.
The treatment, VIR-7831, is a fully human anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody, for the early treatment of COVID-19 in patients who are at high risk of hospitalization.... Read More »
A partnership between the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and NOWDiagnostics, Inc. will produce a rapid, point of care, in vitro diagnostic test for COVID-19 known as ADEXUSDx.
Based on the similarly named ADEXUSDx platform, the test proposes rapid detection of... Read More »
The United Kingdom-based biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca launched phase 3 testing of its potential COVID-19 vaccine -- AZD1222 -- in the United States this week, with plans to enroll as many as 30,000 adult volunteers across 80 testing sites.
AZD1222 was originally developed by Oxford... Read More »
