Research
Research biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences announced last week that it has joined efforts to contain the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) through requested release of an experimental drug known as remdesivir.
Remdesivir is not yet licensed or approved anywhere in the world. However,... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is calling for actions to counter the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) this week, with a new vaccine-focused request for proposals, millions in funding additions, and new partnerships.
CEPI desires rapid development and... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has offered recommendations for the United States to prevent and respond to potential biological catastrophes, such as the novel coronavirus.
NTI officials say global biological catastrophes may not only impact millions of lives but could have a huge impact on... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and biopharmaceutical company CureVac AG announced that, as of last week, they are linked in the effort to accelerate development of vaccines against the novel coronavirus (nCoV-2019).
While the pair had already been partnering to create... Read More »
A collaboration between Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology Co. announced last week intends to take on the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus -- 2019-nCoV -- through advancement of the INO-4800 vaccine.
Inovio recently began developing INO-4800 through Phase 1... Read More »
DNA synthesis technologies— a cornerstone of life sciences research and biotechnology development—are becoming more advanced and commercially available. Although much of this technology is used for clinical diagnosis and treatment, its potential exploitation may lead to ominous biological... Read More »
Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research turned to an old plant virus -- the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) -- as the foundation for a new research effort: a second-generation malaria vaccine candidate.
Demonstrated in the Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences, the... Read More »
As the outbreak of novel coronavirus -- 2019-nCoV -- continues unabated, a meeting of top officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the People’s Republic of China this week aimed to lockdown next steps for a unified assault on the virus.
The biggest news to come out of the meeting... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Southampton in England have identified areas in China and around the world that are considered high-risk from the spread of the coronavirus.
The university’s WorldPop research team found that Bangkok, Thailand, is most at risk from a global spread of the... Read More »
Raytheon Company has secured a five-year, $197 million contract Air Force contract to aid the branch in modernizing its missile warning architecture.
The effort involves developing the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) Mission Data Processing Application Framework (MDPAF),... Read More »
Faced with a novel coronavirus -- 2019-nCoV -- that continues to spread worldwide, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced this week that it will commit $10 million toward containment in China and Africa.
The funds will be split down the middle: $5 million will go to response support in... Read More »
Global health security may need an overhaul.
That’s how Kathryn Bouskill, a social scientist at the RAND Corporation and associate director of the RAND Center for Global Risk and Security, sees the future of the discipline.
In her recently published paper ‘Global Health and Security:... Read More »
Two new reports reveal a weak pipeline for new antibiotics to combat drug-resistant infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says this is due to declining private investment and the lack of innovation in the development of new antibiotics.
“Never has the threat of antimicrobial... Read More »
Confirmed infections of the Wuhan coronavirus reached five people in the United States over the weekend, with already known cases in Washington state and Chicago being joined by new patients in California and Arizona.
In all cases, the patients recently returned to the United States from Wuhan,... Read More »
Eight in 10 voters say it is essential or very important for presidential candidates to have clear plans and policies concerning the threat of nuclear weapons, according to an analysis by Hart Research Associates.
The majority of voters said they would have a more favorable opinion of a... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed a second U.S. case of the Wuhan coronavirus on Friday, pointing to a patient in Chicago while revealing that 63 other possible cases are being tracked across 22 states.
Though Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center... Read More »
The National Institute of Justice awarded the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) about $1.5 million for two research projects examining violent extremists’ radicalization and mobilization.
The projects, which will build... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) issued a warning this week on the discovery of the Wuhan coronavirus in the United States, stating strong prevention and control practices, safety equipment, and funding support are critical to moving forward.
The Wuhan coronavirus -- known to... Read More »
A pair of researchers at George Mason University -- associate professor Aarthi Narayanan and assistant professor Remi Veneziano -- have received funding from the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) for work on a new vaccine design.
That design has the potential to... Read More »
Despite recent efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate health screenings at several U.S. airports, the first case of a novel coronavirus has cropped up in Washington state.
The novel coronavirus has rapidly expanded its reach in recent weeks, following an... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that seven Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition programs adhere to key reliability practices.
The GAO was asked to examine DOD weapon system reliability. The DOD invests billions of dollars each year in major defense acquisition... Read More »
Thanks to data unveiled through Freedom of Information Act requests, the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance launched the largest scale database of U.S. animal imports in history last week and, in the process, revealed that the nation imported more than 3.2 billion live animals over 15 years.
The data... Read More »
A technology system developed and licensed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to track and secure radiological material will be produced and deployed into Latin America under a new arrangement between PNNL and Golden Security Services of Miami.
The Mobile Source Transit Security... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officials recently announced the preliminary results of its initial Gremlins program testing initiative, which seeks to enhance aircraft retrieve efficiently and turnaround preparation efforts.
The X-61A vehicle test conducted in late November at... Read More »
SecuLore Solutions was awarded $750,000 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to improve the resiliency of the nation’s emergency communications infrastructure.
SecuLore will work to eliminate cybersecurity attacks against emergency... Read More »
A pair of reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows a weak incoming pipeline of antibiotics, and, according to the organization, this lack of innovation is only going to degrade efforts to counter drug-resistant infections.
Research and development, according to the twin reports,... Read More »
The U.S. Army’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Lockheed Martin a $31.9 million hypersonic missile contract.
The award is for the Operational Fires (OpFires) Phase 3 Weapon System Integration program, a ground-launched hypersonic boost glide missile system designed... Read More »
Biologists from the University of California San Diego, along with a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, recently engineered synthetic mosquitoes capable of neutralizing many types of dengue virus.
The study focuses on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread dengue to... Read More »
As the world researchers try to identify the cause of a mysterious, novel coronavirus from China, researchers from the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have made headway on at least tracking its existing, with the creation of a new assay protocol that allows quick testing of suspected... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently awarded Stranger Labs $197,021 in Phase 1 funding.
The company will develop a method that makes digital credentials verifiable offline so they offer the same convenience of paper-based... Read More »
Seventeen years after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) global epidemic, its shadow lingers in an ongoing outbreak of mysterious pneumonia cases in China, which an international group of researchers says showcase the potential for pathogens to appear suddenly and wreak deadly global... Read More »
CARB-X has awarded $3.2 million to Trellis Bioscience and dangled the possibility of $3.8 million more for the creation of a monoclonal antibody that can disrupt superbugs’ protective coating.
The bacteria that become superbugs have a biofilm coating that protects them from antibiotics. By... Read More »
The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccination (PREVAC) recently launched a new project called PREVAC-UP, which will evaluate three Ebola vaccine regimens for five years after vaccination.
The study will assess several factors within these treatments: their long-term safety, the durability... Read More »
DARPA’s Subterranean Challenge Urban Circuit is looking to change the nature of subterranean warfare, and as of last week, 17 teams have qualified to demonstrate breakthroughs and solutions to existing problems.
Operating underground is, by its nature, highly challenging for humans. Both... Read More »
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $1.4 million grant to the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to ensure standards and reagents are available to low-cost oral cholera vaccine (OCV) manufacturers.
International standardization in the manufacturing and release of OCV will... Read More »
