Biological
The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced a discovery last week that a single monoclonal antibody isolated from a human Ebola virus disease survivor protected non-human primates from the virus.
The antibody can now advance to testing in humans as a potential... Read More »
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently announced that it has developed a device known as SmartCAR that uses colorimetric assay to identify such dangerous chemical compounds as anthrax, ricin and plague.
“Although much of the technology in SmartCAR is commercial off-the-shelf, it... Read More »
SIGA Technologies, Inc., announced on Wednesday that it had officially received FDA concurrence on its lead product, tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX and ST-246.
Tecovirimat is an orally administered antiviral drug that targets orthopoxvirus-related diseases, including smallpox.
The... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced a collaborative effort on Thursday to establish the “Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB) Biopharmaceutical Accelerator” to help fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The collaboration involves the... Read More »
The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) commenced a training exercise last week aimed at handling environments affected by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats (CBRNE).
The course, entitled “Hazardous Materials Evidence Collection for CBRNE Incidents (HEC),”... Read More »
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) announced the signing of a series of licensing agreements on Thursday with Biodetech, LLC, allowing the company to utilize the Agents of Biological Origin Identifier (ABOid).
ABOid is a pathogen identification platform developed by... Read More »
Meetings of the Five Country Ministerial and the Quintet of Attorneys General meetings were jointly held on Feb. 16-17 by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to discuss the latest issue surrounding international security.
Lynch and Johnson’s... Read More »
SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc., announced on Wednesday that it produced a new human antibody therapeutic to threat the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) utilizing its novel DiversitAb production platform.
MERS-CoV was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently detailed the extensive security effort in securing the site for Super Bowl 50.
Among the agencies involved in the effort were the Travel Safety Administration (TSA), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),... Read More »
The American Society for Microbiology sent a letter this week in support of President Barack Obama’s request to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations for a $1.8 billion fund for emergency Zika relief.
The letter was signed by Lynn Enquist, president of the American Society for... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., announced on Wednesday that its ruggedized, military-grade auto-injector platform will be tested and developed as a platform for nerve agent antidote delivery by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Battelle.
Emergent’s Emergard platform, selected from several... Read More »
The Brazilian Ministry of Health announced a letter of intent on Friday to collaborate with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston to research and develop a Zika virus vaccine
The initiative of the collaborating will be directed toward the development of joint research... Read More »
The U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Friday to learn from experts about current preparedness shortcomings and to assess the types of biological threats facing the United States.
The hearing, chaired by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), was entitled... Read More »
The Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies held its “International Cooperation in Combating Terrorism: Review of 2015 and Outlook for 2016” on Monday at the National Press Club, featuring a panel of experts from the Blue Ribbon Panel who warned that bioterrorism remains a growing... Read More »
The American Public Health Association (APHA) announced its support on Monday for a new surge in funding to protect against Zika virus.
President Barack Obama recently released the details of his emergency plan to provide more than $1.8 billion in funds to prepare for and respond to Zika virus... Read More »
The Joint Science and Technology Office announced this week that its basic research program, Toxicant Penetration and Scavenging (TPS), provided an important new understanding of toxin mechanisms.
The findings have since been published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B article,... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced its research priorities on Friday for studies to investigate how Zika virus infection affects reproduction, pregnancy and the developing fetus.
The virus is currently present in approximately 30 countries and territories, notably in Latin... Read More »
Smiths Detection Incorporated announced on Thursday that the U.S. Army Reserves has ordered a follow-on contract for its Chemical Biological Protective Shelters (CBPS).
The CBPS-M8E1 is a mobile medical shelter designed to be extremely resistant to hazardous materials that might be present in... Read More »
Officials from the World Health Organization, including the director-general, deputy director-general and regional directors of WHO, released a statement in late January following a special session of the executive board on the Ebola outbreak.
The statement came after the conclusion of the... Read More »
The new Base Ensemble Project, a collaboration between the United Kingdom’s Home Office and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), aims to create a uniform that will provide emergency first responders with the protection they need.
First Responders often... Read More »
Lloyd’s, a specialized insurance and reinsurance market, recently commissioned Chatham House to produce a study involving the risks of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons to improve the public knowledge of these threats.
The report highlights strategic trends in... Read More »
The president and chair of the board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) supported efforts by Congress to improve first responder preparedness for bioterrorism attacks but said that even more work remains while testifying on Tuesday at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental... Read More »
Batelle has announced that it has qualified for a bid to provide technical and logistic services to the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense as part of the Joint Enterprise Contracted Logistics and Services Support (JE-CLaSS) Multi-Award Task Order Contract program.
... Read More »
The United Stated Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) facilities to support establishing new animal tests/models for the development of biological medical countermeasures against biological threats, influenza and emerging infectious... Read More »
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), part of the World Health Organization (WHO), released a statement this week following the continued spread of the Zika virus across the Americas.
PAHO gave two main reasons for the spread - the population of the Americas has not been exposed to the... Read More »
The CDC added more countries to its interim travel guidance related to the Zika virus on Friday, including Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde and Samoa.
A Level 2 travel alert was also issued by the CDC on Jan. 15 for those traveling to countries that have... Read More »
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander’s (R-TN) commitment to advancing the Medical Countermeasures Innovation Act of 2015 was applauded this week by the Alliance for Biosecurity.
The act, introduced in September by Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Bob... Read More »
The United States Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that it will be seeking public comment regarding the review of biological agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety, with a proposal to republish that list.
The... Read More »
In an issue this month for the medical journal Clinical Trials, leading researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), described the series of challenges and lessons learned to prevent future outbreaks.
Among... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that a new case of Ebola has been confirmed in the West African country of Sierra Leone.
The government of Sierra Leone acted swiftly to address the new case through the nation’s new emergency operations center and a joint team of local... Read More »
As part of a year-in-review process, the Center for Disease Control recently outlined the steps of the Ebola recovery process in the Western African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
While the disease had a deadly impact in 2015, its spread had already diminished. In January 2015,... Read More »
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) announced its ongoing support last Monday for the continuation of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) diagnostics in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The initiative is part of a cooperative biological engagement program (CBEP) in West Africa. The current program is... Read More »
Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul (R-TX) released a monthly snapshot on Monday of potential terror threats for the U.S. and its allies.
“ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists are expanding their networks and carving out sanctuaries abroad, while their supporters and... Read More »
AAP Gateway, a department of the American Association of Pediatrics, released a report for February shedding light onto the ongoing problem regarding medical countermeasures (MCM) during emergencies, disasters and terrorism.
While major outlets that specialize in MCMs have made headway,... Read More »
