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The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week issued final guidance for developing smallpox treatment studies, providing clarity to drug manufacturers.
“Despite recent advances in developing an effective treatment for smallpox, drug developers still face challenges in bringing... Read More »
Federal regulatory updates to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program that go into effect on Nov. 21 could receive some additional muscle to knock out bad actors if recently introduced federal legislation is enacted.
“I still have concerns about fraud and abuse in the program that can only be... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a $6 million contract to Burlingame, Calif.-based Inflammatix Inc. to develop a new testing technology that reads gene expression patterns in the immune system.
The innovative technology, known as host-response testing,... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) released a report assessing the five new nuclear weapon systems announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Based on its analysis, NTI called for an extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START Treaty.
The report, called Russia’s New... Read More »
The U.S. Senate passed the Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement (FACE) Act, which requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to more effectively manage its advance contracts for goods and services.
Specifically, the legislation requires federal preparedness actions to be... Read More »
A bill advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee seeks to reauthorize and increase funding for the northern United States border’s Operation Stonegarden program for the next five years, injecting $110 million into border security operations.
U.S. Sen. Jon... Read More »
Three agencies under the Department of Justice umbrella have earmarked $95 million to support Tennessee public safety efforts.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) funding allotment would target... Read More »
Techulon Inc. was awarded $785,000 to develop an antimicrobial that would kill drug-resistant bacteria by targeting specific genes critical to the bacteria’s survival.
The funding was from Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) – a global non-profit... Read More »
More than 40 experts from nine Central African nations met in October at an event hosted by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advance biosafety and biosecurity in the region.
The event, held in Libreville, Gabon, was the... Read More »
Twitter suspended content affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah, following a request by members of Congress.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), and Max Rose (D-NY), sent a... Read More »
A bipartisan group of federal legislators introduced last week a bill to fight the spread of synthetic drugs.
Synthetic drugs are re-engineered to circumvent federal laws designed to outlaw them. The Stop Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues (SIMSA) Act would allow substances... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators introduced a bill that would preserve access to T-band spectrum for emergency personnel.
The bill – called Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act -- repeals a provision of the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which directed the Federal... Read More »
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced legislation that would protect 5G telecommunications systems and mobile infrastructure in the United States.
The bill -- the Secure 5G and Beyond Act -- would require the administration to develop an unclassified, national strategy to maximize... Read More »
Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) reintroduced Tuesday legislation is designed to reduce the nation’s nuclear weapons budget by $75 billion over the next decade.
The Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act would enhance national security and cut what they... Read More »
Legislation that would create a new Department of Defense Regional Center in the Arctic was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week.
The center, the Ted Stevens Arctic Center for Security Studies, would be named after the longtime Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The Defense Department has five... Read More »
The U.S. Senate advanced a bill that would direct the Department of Homeland Security to examine the threats deepfakes pose to national security and elections.
Deepfake is a technology where hackers are able to alter video to create images or real people. The videos can then use these fake... Read More »
A delegation of Colorado lawmakers is urging Congressional leaders to provide additional H-2B visas for seasonal workers in year-end appropriations packages or budget resolutions.
H-2B program allows U.S. employers to bring aliens to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural... Read More »
Countries are not prepared for the possible international spread of new or emerging pathogens or for the deliberate or accidental release of dangerous agents, according to a new index that assesses the capabilities of 195 nations.
The Global Health Security Index is a joint project by the... Read More »
Legislation that would prevent drug diversion in real-time was introduced in the Senate this week by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Chris Coons (D-DE).
The Suspicious Order Identification Act of 2019 to enhance oversight related to prescription drug diversion. Currently, law enforcement or other... Read More »
Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) microorganisms, also known as superbugs, increasingly threaten every person on Earth, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and national experts.
“Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most urgent health risks of our time and threatens to undo a... Read More »
In the year since the attack on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, 12 white supremacists have been arrested for their alleged roles in terrorist plots, attacks or threats against the Jewish community, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported.
The ADL’s Center on Extremism reports... Read More »
A bill that would give U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents the equipment to detect synthetic opioids has been introduced in the U.S. House.
The DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act of 2019 requires the Commissioner of CBP to procure chemical screening devices that allow border patrol... Read More »
New cases in the ongoing Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Ebola outbreak slowed in the 21 days from Sept. 23 to Oct. 13, 2019, a World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee heard this week.
While the epidemic is primarily concentrated on the Mandima health zone in the DRC, new... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said the agency is partnering with a firm to develop technology designed to prevent emergency responder collisions.
Chicago-based HAAS Alert is standardizing C-V2X cellular vehicle-to-everything technology... Read More »
Terrorist threats against the United States continue to grow and evolve, including the use of non-conventional weapons, begging the question of whether this country is well-equipped for such attacks.
The conclusion of experts who testified Thursday before the U.S. House Homeland Security... Read More »
A group of U.S. Senators recently urged the Department of Defense (DoD) to address the increasing suicide rate among members of the National Guard.
Recent reports show that the suicide mortality rate for the National Guard has been consistently higher than the rate among active duty and reserve... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) is calling upon President Donald Trump to remove nuclear weapons stored in Turkey.
Markey, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. stores roughly 50 B61 nuclear weapons at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. The airbase is located about 250 miles... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has achieved a milestone, with more than 50 approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the past 12 years of health security solutions it helped develop.
The approvals and licensures are for products that... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed last week marketing of the OraQuick Ebola Rapid Antigen test began, marking the first time a rapid diagnostic test for Ebola was permitted in the United States.
OraSure Technologies, Inc will market OraQuick. The test detects Ebola virus... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) made $14 billion in funding commitments for the Global Fund, which was established to fight HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria.
The funding commitment, announced at the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference in Lyon, France, will be spread over three... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is backing a new technology that will allow doctors to better understand injuries caused by inhaled chlorine gas.
The technology is referred to as lung-on-a-chip, developed by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM). The... Read More »
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has released a second volume of findings from analysis of Russia’s efforts to use social media to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) recently released a... Read More »
A group of Republican senators sent a letter to Microsoft President Brad Smith to address questions he raised about Chinese telecom company Huawei.
The letter was in response to comments Smith made recently in Bloomberg Businessweek on how the U.S. government should provide more evidence of... Read More »
The number of Ebola survivors from the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) topped 1,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The survival rate is largely due to an increase in the amount of medical interventions.
“The recent... Read More »
The United States and the United Kingdom entered into a recent agreement that will allow law enforcement agencies to demand electronic data from tech companies in either country for serious crimes.
The US-UK Bilateral Data Access Agreement would apply to serious crimes, including terrorism,... Read More »