Research
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 »
Chemists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will spend the next month and a half preparing for an exam that will certify the laboratory to test for chemical weapons, a task it has been certified to do since 2003.
Taken in October by chemists a part of the laboratory’s... Read More »
Deltares USA and Deltares have secured $950,000 in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) funds to develop a flood hazard modeling process.
The endeavor, which officials said would utilize open source data, models, and software, is in accordance with the... Read More »
Seeking greater investigations into how and where viruses and other pathogens can crossover from wildlife to people, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officially created the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) this week through an initial 11... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has gained explosives trace detection technology via the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T).
The Next-Generation Mass Spectrometry Explosive Trace Detector or Next-Gen Mass Spec ETD was developed in... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is searching for new ways to deliver vaccines, and to do so, it has found four partners in research: Esperovax, Inc., the University of Connecticut, Vaxess Technologie, and Verndari, Inc.
The two options being investigated... Read More »
AbbVie is teaming up with Harvard University on a $30 million research alliance to study and develop novel therapies against emergent viral infections.
The focus of the research, which will take place at Harvard Medical School (HMS), is on viral infections caused by coronaviruses and other... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) discussed the research and approval process for COVID-19 vaccine candidates with General Gustave Perna, chief operating officer for Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments,
Durbin... Read More »
A phase 1 clinical trial for AZD7442, a combination monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 licensed by AstraZeneca, began this week for 48 healthy participants in the United Kingdom.
Throughout the study, researchers will assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the... Read More »
Bavarian Nordic released the results from its Phase 3 study of the freeze-dried formulation of its MVA-BN smallpox vaccine.
The FDA approved the liquid-frozen formulation of the vaccine in September 2019 under the name JYNNEOS. The prior Phase 2 study has shown bioequivalence between the... Read More »
Cleveland, Ohio-based University Hospitals will serve as one of 120 global clinical investigational sites to test Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.
The clinical trial would be initiated at UH Cleveland Medical Center. Dr. Robert Salata, chairman of the Department of Medicine at UH... Read More »
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the global COVAX initiative can now count 172 national economies and nine potential COVID-19 vaccines under its banner, seven of which have entered clinical trials.
The goal of the COVAX facility is to bring the... Read More »
Thanks to the efforts of nearly 40 companies and universities in the state of Maryland, millions of dollars have been dedicated to the research and development of vaccines, therapeutics, and tests for COVID-19, Gov. Larry Hogan announced this week.
Those efforts include millions in funding... Read More »
Northrop Grumman Corporation officials said an Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) flight test resulted in the Army intercepting a tactical ballistic missile (TBM) and a cruise missile target.
“These two back-to-back successful test events are a testament to the commitment and partnership... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Greg Walden (R-OR) finalized a report that provides recommendations for addressing a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The third and final installment of their report – called “Second Wave Preparedness Project” -- focuses on... Read More »
Every county in the United States was scoured for COVID-19 hotspots in a recent study released by University of Utah geographers, providing localized data to track infection clusters and inform local public health policies.
Through space-time statistics, the researchers determined geographic... Read More »
Roche Pharmaceuticals is teaming up with Regeneron to develop and distribute Regeneron’s COVID-19 investigational antiviral antibody combination.
The treatment, known as REGN-COV2, is being developed as a treatment option for people already experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. It also has the... Read More »
A new, interim report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security released this week showcases a path to ethical allocation and distribution of an eventual COVID-19 vaccine, meant to help facilitate those early days after it is first authorized for use.
The Interim Framework for COVID-19... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) issued a call for candidates to submit technologies for a non-invasive febrile temperature screening of COVID-19 to be included in an upcoming market study.
All interested vendors, manufacturers, and... Read More »
Plasma Technologies of Charleston, S.C., signed an agreement with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) to develop a process to produce higher-yielding anti-COVID-19 immune serum for scale-up and manufacturing.
A higher yield hyperimmune serum would be an... Read More »
Scientists from the University of Illinois and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have designed and tested a decoy protein capable of tricking SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- and could potentially lead to a treatment.
Their results,... Read More »
As part of its communal effort to see a potential COVID-19 vaccine fairly manufactured and distributed throughout the world by the end of 2021, the COVAX facility has put out a call for civil society and community organizations (CSOs) to contribute.
COVAX is the brainchild of three... Read More »
GeoVax Labs is working on a collaboration to develop vaccine candidates for both the Sudan ebolavirus and Marburg virus.
The collaboration is between GeoVax, the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), and Battelle Memorial Institute. The partners will utilize the suite of preclinical... Read More »
