The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its Pre-Approval Inspection (PAI) of Emergent BioSolutions, Inc.’s Building 55 for the large-scale manufacturing of BioThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed).
Following the PAI’s conclusion, Emergent BioSolutions received a No Action Indicated... Read More »
The Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) Defense Spectrum Organization (DSO) named Alion Science and Technology on Wednesday as an awardee of a five-year, multiple-award contract valued up to $137 million to assist the military’s access to wireless spectrum frequencies.
Alion will... Read More »
The National International Health Regulations (IHR) of the United States notified the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday of the first confirmed case of locally-acquired Chikungunya virus in the state of Texas.
The patient became ill in... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) released data from a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Wednesday that shows that approximately 91 percent of known or suspected terrorists passed a background check to purchase a firearm or explosives between Feb. 2004 and Dec. 2015.
The GAO... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc.’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) seeking approval for the manufacture of BioThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed) at the company’s Building 55 was accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week.
“Emergent’s... Read More »
Steven M. Holland on Tuesday was named director of the division of intramural research (DIR) at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“Dr. Holland is widely respected within NIH and beyond as a highly skilled and... Read More »
The House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing on Tuesday concerning the U.S. public health response to antibiotic resistant bacteria, otherwise known as “superbugs.”
The hearing was initiated after the discovery of the MCR-1 gene in a Pennsylvania woman who contracted... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted orphan drug status to Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., on Wednesday for BioThrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed) for post-exposure prophylaxis of anthrax disease from suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthraces.
BioThrax is the only... Read More »
The Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA) recently said that it is anticipating a threat posed by the bacterial gene mcr-1, which confers resistance to the antibiotic colistin and was found in a bacterium isolated from a patient in the United States.
While the bacteria is... Read More »
Lockheed Martin entered into a partnership with Interset’s insider threat detection solution on Monday.
The decision was announced at the 2016 Gartner Risk and Security Summit conference in National Harbor, MD.
“Insider threats pose one of the highest risks to an organization, and... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) spoke out on Wednesday against the status quo of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) weapon acquisition system, which the DoD uses to procure weapons systems and related items from various defense.
Coats said that the process, which includes the design and development... Read More »
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), along with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), unveiled the House Republicans’ blueprint for security at home and abroad on Friday.
The blueprint is part of the House GOP’s “A Better Way” initiative, which outlines ideas to... Read More »
The Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) launched a new initiative on Thursday with Huntsville City Schools in Alabama to provide strategic support to the school system’s Cyber Academy.
The initiative is part of a three-year, $300,000 commitment, with SAIC providing cyber... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) expanded his ongoing investigation on Wednesday into steps federal agencies are taking to better protect banks around the world against cybersecurity threats after multiple attacks against the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system.... Read More »
Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) researchers took to the New York City subway system last month to aid in conducting a series of tests on how a biological agent, such as anthrax, might disperse throughout the rapid transit system as a result of a bioterrorism attack or accidental release.... Read More »
The House Appropriations Committee released its proposed FY 2017 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill on Wednesday.
The bill targets critical programs such as aviation security, border and immigration enforcement, customs activities, protections against cyberterrorism,... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to address growing Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) wait times at the nation’s airports.
The Checkpoint Optimization and Efficiency Act of 2016, authored by U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY), seeks to... Read More »
Northrop Grumman Corp. entered into a collaboration on Monday with NEC Corp. to deliver the Japan-Cyber Operations Research, Training and Experimentation (J-CORTEX) system.
The system is a private, cloud-based cyber range that quickly and effectively emulates customer environments for the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed on Friday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists discovered a long-horned beetle larvae inside a bamboo stick carried by a passenger from Mexico, marking the first recorded find of the species in... Read More »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a Health Subcommittee markup on Tuesday, discussing the Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act, H.R. 3299.
"There is a clear role for the federal government to play in creating medical countermeasures and contributing to our nation's... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity lauded the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday for recommending sustained funding in its FY 2017 appropriations bill for some essential medical countermeasures programs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) raised concerns on Friday with the findings of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation into the lack of cooperation between DHS entities following the San Bernardino terror attacks.
The... Read More »
The Security Industry Association (SIA) recognized three members of Congress on Friday as SIA Legislators of the Year for their efforts to strengthen security matters.
The awards are presented annually to a select group of elected officials who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in... Read More »
The world-class team of global communications industry leaders that make up a company formed to bid on building the first nationwide 4G LTE broadband wireless network to successfully deliver the FirstNet network for public safety in the U.S. was announced this week.
Rivada Mercury’s group of... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) applauded the strategic plan to protect and grow Michigan’s defense industry on Friday.
Miller will join Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and other Michigan officials in the state’s protect and grow... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) recently released the June Terror Threat Snapshot, surveying growing threats that face America and its allies in the West.
“We face a challenging threat environment here at home as Islamist extremists abroad have dug into their... Read More »
Battelle demonstrated on Friday that its new Resource Effective Bio-Identification System (REBS) can successfully perform all required functions, including the identification of threat agent bioaerosols.
REBS is a cost-effective bioaerosol identification system that provides rapid, flexible... Read More »
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson swore in John F. Kelly and Karen P. Tandy as the two newest members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) on Friday.
“I welcome the new members to the advisory committee and hope they get to see the great work of our employees, and I... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), along with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Brazilian Federal Police, recently held training courses to raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of Brazilian authorities to deal with a range of potential crimes leading into... Read More »
Science Applications International Corp. (SIAC) was awarded a five-year, multiple-award, indefinite deliver, indefinite quantity contract worth up to $460 million on Wednesday from the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Systems Integration and Management (FEDSIM) and U.S. Cyber Command... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) completed the overhaul of its 13th P-3 Orion aircraft earlier this month.
The Service Life ExtensionPlan (SLEP) overhaul stems from a 2006 analysis of the aging P-3 aircraft fleet that indicated that the Long-Range Tracker... Read More »
BitSight Technologies released a report on Friday that examined the security ratings of a random sample of 250 companies per country from the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, China and Brazil.
The report, “BitSight Insights Global View: Revealing Security Performance... Read More »
A union representing workers of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) took out a full-page ad in The Hill newspaper on Wednesday to amplify its call for 6,000 additional full-time security screeners to alleviate long airport security lines.
The American Federation of Government... Read More »
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense on Wednesday applauded legislation advanced by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security to ensure that the U.S. is prepared for biological threats, including the Zika virus.
The National Biodefense Strategy Act of 2016, S. 2967, introduced by U.S. Sen.... Read More »
The Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health held a hearing entitled “Examining H.R. 3299, Strengthening Public Health Response Act” on Thursday to examine legislation meant to better prepare the U.S. to fight biological threats.
The Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response... Read More »
