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A joint effort from U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) produced the ATF Improvement and Modernization (AIM) Act this week to revamp the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and bolster national gun safety efforts.
The legislation would end what... Read More »
Last year, CARB-X awarded $127.5 million and 23 awards to developers pursuing novel ways to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to its fourth annual report.
This marks the largest funding effort so far conducted by CARB-X, which coincided with several other successful milestones. For... Read More »
The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) awarded more than $536 million in fiscal year 2020 for various policing, school safety, and anti-opioid efforts.
The money went to various programs to increase law enforcement hiring and improve school... Read More »
Public health leaders from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) wrote Congress last week to request emergency funding to benefit COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration.
The supplemental funding request came... 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 »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a major medical breakthrough this week, approving Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to produce Inmazeb, the first treatment for Ebola virus infections to reach that point.
Inmazeb is a mix of three monoclonal antibodies, which work by targeting the... 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. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week issued guidance to provide sponsors, or vaccine makers, with information on requesting an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for COVID-19 vaccines.
The October guidance, which complements June guidance issued by the agency, specifically... 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 »
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 »
Recent news that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had overruled the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow COVID-19 lab-developed tests to come to market without FDA review was met by major warnings from House Democrats this week.
In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar,... 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 »
A new technology called Trusted Mobile System (TrustMS) developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is designed to secure apps from cyber attackers.
TrustMS, developed by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Intelligent... Read More »
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged individual and cooperative efforts by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. State Department to counter biological threats around the world, prompting lawmakers to reevaluate the dangers that infectious disease outbreaks pose to U.S. national... Read More »
Following three successful clinical trials, Veklury (remdesivir) is now available for hospital purchase directly from its distributor, Gilead Sciences, ending the government’s distribution role.
The move follows five months during which the U.S. government managed allocation and distribution... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and John Katko (R-NY) introduced legislation to protect against foreign influence designed to weaken the U.S. electoral system.
A statement from the U.S. Intelligence Community reported in August that “foreign states will continue to use covert and overt... Read More »
America's foreign adversaries, chief among them China, could utilize one of the federal government's most noteworthy immigration programs against the United States, threatening its national security and undermining democracy, U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) told Homeland Preparedness... Read More »
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 »
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA) are among a group of lawmakers urging congressional leadership to include a six-month extension for states and local governments to spend their funding allocations provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in... Read More »
In the aftermath of wildfires that devastated wide swaths of land and communities, senators wrote to President Donald Trump last week requesting additional federal aid for wildfire response efforts and to assist recovery.
The senators requested quick increases to the number of fire personnel and... Read More »
A bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate that seeks to repeal or modify regulations that have impeded the ability of the government to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act establishes a commission charged with prioritizing regulation... Read More »
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is revealing major gaps in national readiness to prepare for, respond to, and recover from biological threats, requiring that decision makers consider improved policies, programs, and technologies to ramp up the federal defense, experts said during the Sept. 24 virtual... 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 »
Top Trump Administration officials dismissed concerns that approval of a COVID-19 vaccine is being rushed to satisfy the President’s reelection efforts and assured the public they would volunteer to take any vaccine themselves that is ultimately approved by the government.
“We do feel the... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that the Treasury Department work with other federal agencies and sector partners to enhance cybersecurity within the financial sector.
The financial services sector's reliance on information technology makes it a leading target for... Read More »
The global initiative known as the COVAX facility announced major news for all seeking relief from the COVID-19 pandemic: a total of 156 economies have banded together under the program, guaranteeing both robust and lower income economies will get vaccines.
This week marked the formal commitment... Read More »
In a letter written to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and John Cornyn (R-TX) pressed for details on drug trafficking crackdown efforts targeting the dark web and its users.
Pointing to... 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 »
In a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week, 15 Democratic senators called for the agency to be fully transparent in its COVID-19 vaccine review process, over concerns President Donald Trump is pressuring it to approve a vaccine before Election Day.
Public trust must be... Read More »
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are seeking information from the nine pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines about their research and development efforts and how they are ensuring that only a safe and effective product will be made publicly available.
The... 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 »
House Republican leaders are seeking information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how it plans to manage COVID-19 response efforts in addition to the flu and other respiratory issues this season.
“We share your concerns about the unprecedented convergence of two... Read More »
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) introduced a build that would help equip the general public, as well as businesses and governments, with the tools and guidance to protect against cyberthreats.
The bill – the Cyber Essentials Act -- directs the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency... Read More »
