Chemical
A blog post written by Stephen Pike, managing director at UK-based Argon Electronics, recently examined the HazMat risks that accompany industrial chemical incidents.
Pike maintains chemical manufacturing facilities present potential hazards that, if not properly addressed, could place workers... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions is launching a campaign to raise public awareness of the risks of opioids through public libraries and YMCAs.
Emergent, through its subsidiary Adapt Pharma, will provide one free box of its NARCAN Nasal Spray along with educational materials to all 16,568 public... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions completed its acquisition of Adapt Pharma and its flagship product NARCAN Nasal Spray, which is used to treat opioid overdose.
Emergent paid $735 million to acquire Adapt Pharma, including an upfront payment of $635 million with up to $100 million in cash for potential... Read More »
Both state and industry representatives from 25 nations gathered in Qatar earlier this month as part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and collectively agreed to increase cooperation in the future.
“All chemical industries regardless of the size and scale need... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced this week that a strategic partnership between the department and Johnson & Johnson will seek to advance efforts against chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, disease, and antimicrobial threats in the United States.
The two... Read More »
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is seeking information regarding how the nation’s military plans to counter Syria’s future use of chemical weapons.
Ernst, who chairs the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities for the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently forwarded correspondence to... Read More »
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) recently introduced the Law Enforcement Resources and Community Safety Act of 2018, which addresses state and local problems associated with drug trafficking, gangs and organized crime, strengthen witness protection programs, and provide resources to keep first responders safe... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) to bolster America’s preparedness and response to public health emergencies, including biological threats like emerging infectious diseases, as well as chemical, bio or nuclear... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is teaming up with Israeli company MediWound Ltd. in the creation of a new treatment of skin injuries resulting from exposure to sulfur mustard.
Sulfur mustard, more commonly known as mustard gas, has seen devastating use since World War I,... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office develop a plan to help DHS coordinate chemical defense programs and activities.
The GAO’s study came about in response to concerns about... Read More »
The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) produced a new video for first responders to help them protect themselves from the presence of fentanyl on the job.
The video, called “Fentanyl: The Real Deal” is a companion training video to its Fentanyl Safety... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions will acquire Adapt Pharma and its flagship product NARCAN (naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray, which treats opioid overdoses.
NARCAN is the only needle-free treatment of naloxone approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada. It is an emergency treatment... Read More »
Eric Moore, director of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Chemical & Biological Center (RDECOM C&B) recently spoke at an industry conference about technology and innovation in development to bolster chemical and biological defense.
The CBRN (chemical, biological,... Read More »
Warning of the potential danger presented by attackers targeting hazardous chemical facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share more information with first responders who may need to respond to security incidents.... Read More »
Two national organizations that represent biopharmaceutical and business interests have penned a letter to each member of the U.S. House of Representatives urging lawmakers to approve the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018, H.R. 6378, before critical public... Read More »
The global spread of a deadly disease outbreak during a biological attack would impact far more than U.S. government financial resources, former federal lawmakers say, and could crash the coffers of local and state budgets just as severely.
“We know unequivocally that terrorists have the... Read More »
Marines and Illinois response units recently joined forces to share training techniques designed to enhance chemical and biological emergency preparedness.
Marines and sailors with the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBRIF) participated in Exercise Chicago Response in Chicago,... Read More »
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) forwarded correspondence last week urging the Trump Administration to hold Russia accountable for its likely use of chemical weapons in recent attacks on civilians in the United Kingdom.
In his letter, Royce noted the Administration missed... Read More »
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) officials will be participating in several discussion panels presented at the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management’s (INMM) 59th annual meeting this week in Baltimore, Md.
NTI Vice President Corey Hinderstein provided opening remarks at the first plenary... Read More »
It would cost the U.S. government only half a day’s worth of federal spending — anywhere between $5 billion and $6 billion — to create the infrastructure needed to counteract the threat of chemical or biological attacks, according to findings described in “Invisible Scourge: The Danger of... Read More »
A comprehensive update to the nation’s soon-to-expire pandemic and all-hazards law has been unveiled in the U.S. House where Energy and Commerce Committee members have painstakingly produced a bipartisan reauthorization to bolster America’s defense against chemical, biological, radiological or... Read More »
Forensic chemists can use a new international data hub to share information on new variants of fentanyl and the chemical signatures and variants of other drug analogs with scientists from around the world to help curb the opioid epidemic.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Canadian government recently joined forces to gather female chemists, during the Symposium on Women in Chemistry in Ottawa, Canada.
OPCW officials said the two-day effort involved discussing how the women support each other... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) Global Biosecurity Dialogue (GBD) brought more than 60 government officials, international organizations, nuclear experts and civil society leaders together in London last week to discuss solutions to strengthen global biosecurity and biosafety.... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Make-It Program is making progress toward fully automated rapid molecule production.
The Make-It research teams are developing automated devices that create the desired chemical based on the software-generated recipe. These software tools... Read More »
Federal, state, and local officials discussed efforts to disrupt the flow of illegal opioids into communities and to break up criminal networks during a field hearing held on Tuesday in Harrisburg, Pa.
The hearing, “Opioids in the Homeland: DHS Coordination with State and Local Partners to... Read More »
A $55.15 billion homeland security appropriations bill that emphasizes border security, cybersecurity, the nationwide opioid epidemic, and state and local support cleared the U.S.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security on Tuesday.
The Fiscal Year 2019 Homeland Security... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) launched an advisory group for its recently expanded Global Biological Policy and Programs.
The advisory group provides strategic guidance on the program’s effort to reduce global biological risks. It will be chaired by former commissioner of the Food and... Read More »
The United States may be prepared for emerging biological terror and disease outbreaks, but members of Congress questioned during a recent hearing whether coordination among federal agencies, local health departments, and private companies are optimal to tackle such threats.
The purpose of... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made progress in managing the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
DHS established the CFATS program in 2007 to identify and assess the security risk... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. plans to undertake a three-year, $50 million project that will expand the contract development and manufacturing capacity of the company’s Camden fill/finish facility in Baltimore.
Slated for completion in 2021, the expansion project also aims to address... Read More »
Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Peter King (R-NY) recently praised the efforts of the House Committee on Homeland Security in advancing legislation designed to address opioid trafficking.
The congressmen said passage of their Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act allows the Department... Read More »
Members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on Wednesday considered proposed updates to the nation’s law on preparing for and responding to national and global public health emergencies resulting from any chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) agent, toxin,... Read More »
With cancer, diabetes, heart conditions and other chronic diseases on the rise in the Caribbean, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently launched a four-year project to improve radiation medicine capabilities across the region’s 32 island countries.
IAEA convened a coordination... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to host an informational event on June 13 for those interested in participating in a new program that seeks to temporarily leverage the human body’s natural genetic responses to counter biological, chemical, and radiological threats.... Read More »
