Biological
A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other research institutions recently developed a DNA vaccine to combat the spread of Zika virus.
Research teams with the Kansas State University (KSU) Biosecurity Research Institute, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) recently moved forward with the development of the anthrax vaccine NuThrax.
ASPR’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Emergent... Read More »
An Upstate Medical University research team recently began utilizing a social-ecological systems (SES) approach to study mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika, chikungunya and dengue fever.
The SES approach builds upon new information as it becomes available to the multi-disciplinary research team... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., announced on Friday that it has signed a multi-year contract for the advanced development and delivery of NuThrax (vaccine adsorbed with CPG 7909 adjuvant), the company’s next-generation anthrax vaccine candidate.
The contract, signed with the Biomedical Advanced... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed six bipartisan bills on Tuesday to enhance national security efforts within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“I commend the work of my committee on the passage of these important pieces of legislation which seek to provide necessary... Read More »
A team of researchers from the Kansas State University (KSU) Biosecurity Research Institute recently conducted a study with Culex species mosquitoes from across the country to find ways to stop the spread of Zika virus.
Findings from the study were published in the journal Vector-Borne and... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Wednesday on high-containment laboratories and how improved oversight of dangerous pathogens is needed to mitigate any potential risks.
The GAO report said the total number of incidents involving incomplete inactivation, a... Read More »
A group of Democratic members of Congress called upon the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday to extend temporary protective status (TPS) for eligible nationals of countries affected by the Ebola virus disease.
U.S. Reps. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), José E. Serrano (D-NY)... Read More »
Elusys Therapeutics, Inc., published data on Thursday on more than 450 healthy adult subjects from five clinical trials used to support recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing approval of ANTHIM injection.
ANTHIM is used in adult and pediatric patients for the treatment of... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a study regarding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) program consolidation proposal.
The GAO report found that DHS’s documentation related to... Read More »
The U.S. government has become “somewhat complacent” in preparing for potential bioterrorist attacks and needs to implement a national biodefense strategy, Daniel Gerstein, a senior policy researcher at the nonpartisan RAND Corporation, recently told Homeland Preparedness News.
The anthrax... Read More »
Legislation that would require the United States to develop a national biodefense strategy to help prevent and respond to a bioterrorist attack or public health emergency is awaiting Senate floor action.
The Biodefense Strategy Act of 2016, S. 2967, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), released a study on Tuesday with evidence showing that people who were infected with the Ebola virus were 20 percent more likely to survive the virus if they were co-infected with the... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Emergent BioSolutions, Inc.’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the manufacture of BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) at the company’s large-scale Building 55 manufacturing facility in Lansing,... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exercised a contract option with Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., on Tuesday valued at $11.6 million over a 12-month period for the supply of vaccinia immune globulin (VIGIV) to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
The U.S. Food and... Read More »
ClinicalRM recently expanded access protocol with ZMapp, an investigational treatment for Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Africa and the United States.
ZMapp combines three monoclonal antibodies developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc., and LeafBio, the commercialization arm of Mapp, to fight... Read More »
SIGA Technologies, Inc., received approval on Tuesday from its data safety monitoring board (DSMB) to complete enrollment in the second and final cohort of healthy subjects for the Phase III clinical study of TPOXX for the treatment of orthopoxvirus infections.
The approval was based on a study... Read More »
A major gap in international standards for biosafety in laboratories handling contagious pathogens potentially increases the risk that an accident could result in a disease outbreak that threatens global security, according to a recent study by the UPMC Center for Health Security.
The year-long... Read More »
A team of researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently developed a flexible material that is both highly breathable and protective from various biological agents that soldiers may come into contact with.
The material is the first key component of a new type of... Read More »
Altimmune, Inc., and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) are set to advance the first clinical trial later this month of an anthrax vaccine that could be administered in a single dose.
The trial was initiated from a two-year, $14 million contract between BARDA and... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday urged President Obama to use unspent funds from other programs to combat the emerging threat of Zika virus in the United States.
Rubio sent a letter to the president, citing specific examples of unused funds that could be reallocated in an expedited... Read More »
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), released a study on Wednesday that found six Zika virus antibodies, including four that neutralize African, Asian and American strains of the virus.
Dr. Michael S.... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) on Tuesday decried actions by his congressional colleagues for jeopardizing the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus.
Donovan’s statement came in the wake of three different companies threatening to halt their developments due to funding uncertainty.... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) produced its first biosafety curriculum for police colleges to advance law enforcement capability and preparedness in responding to biological incidents on Tuesday.
The initiative was developed under Project Rhino and seeks to address... Read More »
Soligenix released positive preliminary proof-of-concept results on Monday from its collaboration with Axel Lehrer to develop a heat-stable subunit Ebola virus vaccine.
Lehrer is a doctor in the Department of Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology at the John A. Burns School of... Read More »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill on Thursday introduced by U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) aimed at incentivizing investments in vaccines and treatments for dangerous and deadly diseases identified as threats to our national security.
The Strengthening... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded the initial funding of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office’s (DNDO) Securing the Cities program to Chicago on Wednesday to build upon the agency’s increase in capabilities to detect and protect against radiological and nuclear threats.... Read More »
Researchers at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) and CBI Polymer recently explored how a HydroGel can be modified to decontaminate surfaces contaminated with harmful biological agents, such as the anthrax-inducing Bacillus anthracis.
HydroGel is a biosynthetic polymer that can be... Read More »
The European Parliament has taken an important step toward protecting victims of potential biological, chemical and other types of terrorist attacks in the European Union with its new draft counterterrorism directive that is being negotiated this week.
The European Parliament’s Civil... Read More »
A team at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) has developed a means for Department of Defense (DoD) labs across the globe to quickly obtain a genomic analysis of unknown and potentially hazardous biological samples without incurring the cost and risk of shipping them to a robust... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently announced that is has developed a decontamination spray that enables soldiers at the unit level to decontaminate vehicle surfaces in the field immediately after exposure to a chemical warfare agent and continue with their mission.
The... Read More »
A coalition of research institutions published a report in the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal on Wednesday that analyzed the immune responses of Ebola patients treated in the United States.
The coalition includes the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control (CDC), the Emory University School... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Tuesday that found that the National Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), has made progress incorporating the Homeland Response Force (HRF) into the chemical, biological radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response... Read More »
The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) released a report on Tuesday detailing how a single dose of either of two experimental Zika vaccines protected mice infected with the virus for four to eight weeks after receiving the inoculations.
NIAID said that this... Read More »
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) presented data on Monday regarding gene sequences and the global variations in malaria parasites.
NIAID researchers determined the genomes of approximately 200 P. vivax strains that recently infected people in... Read More »
