News
FDA advisory committee unanimously recommends Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster for emergency use authorization
Adults at least 18 years old could soon gain access to a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster shot if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agrees with the unanimous recommendation of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC). Last week, in a 19-0 vote,... Read More »
Report warns of cyberthreat to U.S. Water and Wastewater Systems facilities
A joint cybersecurity advisory (CSA) from the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Security Agency (NSA) has detailed an ongoing cyber threat to the U.S. Water and Wastewater... Read More »
Tuberculosis deaths rise for first time in more than a decade as spending falls, COVID surges
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week that tuberculosis (TB) deaths rose for the first time in more than a decade as COVID-19 continues to impact the world. According to WHO, approximately 1.5 million people died as a result of TB in 2020. The organization noted that fewer... Read More »
DHS funds earmarked for Coast Guard language translator
A San Jose, California-based firm has secured a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) award to develop a Coast Guard language translation platform. DHS S&T officials said the award of $199,592 to myLanguage would address the adaptation and customization... Read More »
NIH RADx initiative awards $77.7 million for rapid COVID-19 diagnostics tests
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative split $77.7 million among 12 new contract awards last week for potential, rapid SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests. Part of the RADx Tech program, which gathered a panel of technical, regulatory and business... Read More »
DHS and New York to conduct air sampling study
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced it would be joining several agencies in New York City to conduct above-ground and below-ground air sampling studies. The studies will help urban areas prepare for and recover from... Read More »
FDA session to address COVID-19 oral treatment
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials said the agency will conduct a Nov. 30 meeting via its Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee (AMDAC) to discuss a COVID-19 oral treatment. The FDA indicated the effort would focus on Merck and Ridgeback’s request for an emergency use authorization... Read More »
REGEN-COV earns FDA priority review and EMA review for use against COVID-19
Following two successful Phase 3 trials of more than 6,000 patients, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week accepted the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. anti-COVID-19 cocktail known as REGEN-COV for priority review. REGEN-COV is a mix of the antibodies casirivimab and... Read More »TSA details checkpoint firearm detection statistics
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have detected a record number of firearms at airport security checkpoints this year. As of Oct. 3 officers had stopped 4,495 airline passengers from carrying firearms aboard flights, exceeding the full calendar year 2019 previous record of... Read More »MITRE panel: Maintain warp speed in preparation for next global health crisis
The all-star team of government officials, scientists and industry executives who tackled COVID-19 made great strides in the development of an effective vaccine against the novel virus, but that is no guarantee that the United States will be ready for the next pandemic that rears its head, speakers... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions begins phase 3 study of chikungunya virus vaccine candidate
The first participant in a new trial phase recently received a dose of a vaccine candidate against chikungunya disease that is being developed by Emergent BioSolutions Inc. “Emergent has achieved a major milestone as we begin our phase 3 study for our single-dose chikungunya vaccine... Read More »
20 years after anthrax attacks, report finds U.S. government still behind on biodetection
Shortly after the terrorist events of Sept. 11, 2001, letters containing deadly anthrax spores arrived at locations across the country, killing five Americans and sickening 17 others. Twenty years after these incidents, considered the worst biological attacks in U.S. history, the federal government... Read More »
Smiths Detection details emerging variants identification efforts
The threat detection and security screening technology firm Smiths Detection recently confirmed its BioFlash air sampler detects a series of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Officials said the detected variants include the Alpha variant, Beta variant, Gamma variant, the Kappa variant and the Delta and Delta... Read More »
DHS funds target self-screening hardware subsystem for airports
San Francisco based Voxel Radar has secured a $387,415 award from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a passenger self-screening hardware subsystem for airport checkpoints. DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Screening at Speed Program officials indicated the allotment... Read More »
WHO proposes 26 members for advisory group on the origins of novel pathogens
The World Health Organization (WHO) has whittled down a list of more than 700 applicants to 26 proposed members to act as expert advisors on its new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). These experts will advise WHO as it develops a global framework for defining... Read More »Lawmakers urge expanded global COVID-19 vaccine access, review of Moderna-HHS contract
In a letter to high-ranking members of the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 response efforts, three Democratic senators and representatives this week urged a cautious review of the United States Health and Human Services (HHS) contract with Moderna, Inc. and called for efforts to expand global... Read More »
Valley Fever bill reintroduced in House
U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) co-chairs of the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force joined Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA) and Tom O’Halleran (R-AZ) to introduce a bipartisan bill combating Valley Fever Wednesday. Valley Fever is an infection caused by inhaling spores... Read More »
COVAX to purchase 176.5 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in 2022
Through exercise of an option with Moderna, Inc., Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance will purchase another 176.5 million doses of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to help low income countries over the course of the next year, through the COVAX Facility. With this purchase, COVAX will have... Read More »
Cybersecurity bills advance in Senate
Two cybersecurity bills from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have been approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee where Peters serves as chair and Portman serves as ranking member. The two bills, the Cyber Incident Reporting Act and the... Read More »
CARB-X pursuit of antibiotic resistant bacteria countermeasures reach 95 projects in fifth year
According to the latest annual report from the global nonprofit partnership CARB-X, at the close of its fifth fiscal year it has provided as much as $361 million to 92 projects seeking solutions to antibiotic resistant bacteria, gathered new partners under its umbrella and continually grown its... Read More »
DHS targets enhanced employment, labor standards enforcement
Department of Homeland Security officials said the agency is initiating efforts to bolster enforcement of wage protections, workplace safety, labor rights and other employment laws and standards. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas has issued directives to Immigration and... Read More »DoD funds target small unmanned aerial systems initiative
The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has earmarked $14 million to companies in accordance with efforts to ensure a small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) industrial base. Officials indicated the allotment via the Defense Production Act would be awarded to Systems and... Read More »
POWER Act would provide law enforcement grants to purchase drug detection devices
Reckoning with rising cases of overdose throughout the United States, a bicameral reintroduction of the POWER Act was announced last week, which proposes new U.S. Department of Justice-provided grants to help law enforcement procure better drug detection devices. POWER, or Providing Officers... Read More »
Senate bill introduced to legally shield disaster relief medical volunteers
A group of United States senators last week reintroduced an effort to update the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 and extend legal protections for medical volunteers working in federally-recognized disaster relief efforts. Authored by U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and... Read More »
HAVANA Act signed into law
The Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act was recently signed into law. The measure supports American public servants having sustained brain injuries likely stemming from directed energy attacks, also known as Havana Syndrome. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Mark... Read More »
Senate bill seeks to improve cybersecurity in the U.S.
A pair of lawmakers have introduced a measure that seeks to improve the nationʻs cybersecurity. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) recently introduced the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act,... Read More »
Senators introduce resolution making October National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jackie Rosen (D-NV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Angus King (I-ME), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced a resolution Thursday that would designate October 2021 as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. As part of the... Read More »
Border Patrol seizes 1,000 fentanyl pills at Highway 111 checkpoint
Following investigation by Border Patrol agents in Southern California -- El Centro Sector -- some 1,000 fentanyl pills were seized last week at a checkpoint and two United States citizens arrested for smuggling. A pair of 33-year-old men were detained with what amounted to $6,500 worth of... Read More »
DHS awards $1 million to firm for soft target, crowded places software security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded $999,644 to a California-based small business, Karagozian & Case, Inc., for development of an advanced software option that would allow security professionals to view their environments through a mobile device. “As crowded places... Read More »
Study examines substance use, COVID-19 risk
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study has determined vaccinated persons with substance use disorders are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. “First and foremost, vaccination is highly effective for people with substance use disorders, and the overall risk of COVID-19 among vaccinated people... Read More »
Moderna initiates Africa-based mRNA facility
Moderna officials said the company is slated to build a messenger RNA (mRNA) facility in Africa, producing up to 500 million vaccine doses annually at the 50 microgram dose level. “Since Moderna’s founding in 2010, our mission has been to make a transformative impact on human lives through... Read More »
Cybersecurity bills advance in U.S. Senate
Two bipartisan bills from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) on cybersecurity and infrastructure were approved by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and now head to the full Senate for a vote. The bills, which require critical infrastructure owners... Read More »
U.S.-Israel partnership targets homeland security technology development
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Israel Ministry of Public Security (MOPS) officials are touting a partnership to aid homeland security technology development. The Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Homeland Security (BIRD... Read More »
Bill seeks to address critical infrastructure cyber attacks
A pair of lawmakers have introduced a measure they said is designed to protect systemically important critical infrastructure (SICI) from cyber attacks. Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) recently detailed the the Securing Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure Act,... Read More »