Emerging Infectious Diseases
BARDA, Dascena partner on advanced software to predict worsening health among hospitalized COVID-19 patients
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will provide $706,534 in funding for Dascena, Inc. to further its COViage system, potentially expanding its machine learning capabilities to predict deteriorating health among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Hospitalized COVID-19... Read More »
Bicameral legislators introduce measure to protect U.S. from COVID variants
On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) to introduce legislation that would expand the U.S. response to the coronavirus on an international level. The Nullifying Opportunities for Variants... Read More »
WHO call for antimicrobial resistance surveillance reports met record number of confirmed infection reports in 2020
The World Health Organization (WHO) gained more than 3 million lab-confirmed infection case reports in response -- a record figure -- in response to a call issued last year for input into the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS). These country-by-country reports... Read More »
U.S. federal government to acquire 1.7 million doses of Merck’s molnupiravir COVID-19 antiviral following FDA authorization
A new agreement struck between the Biden administration and Merck & Co. will provide the U.S. government with 1.7 million courses of the company’s investigational COVID-19 antiviral treatment, molnupiravir. This agreement is contingent upon either emergency use authorization (EUA) or approval... Read More »
Henry Schein earns $53.4M contract from HHS to support Strategic National Stockpile’s PPE storage, distribution
In efforts to improve the Strategic National Stockpile, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a $53.4 million contract to Henry Schein, Inc. this week for the storage and distribution of 80,000 pallets of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 related products. This... Read More »
DiaSorin awarded $4.6M federal contract to increase COVID-19 test capacity
The U.S. Departments of Defense (DoD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have awarded a $4.6 million contract to DiaSorin Inc. to boost production capacity of SARS-CoV-2 serology tests by nearly eightfold, to 10 million per month by May 2022. Currently, the lab diagnostics company DiaSorin... Read More »
New CDC study shows mRNA COVID-19 vaccines reduce risk of infection by 91 percent among fully vaccinated
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demonstrated continuing good news for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, crediting them with reducing the risk of infection by 91 percent for those fully vaccinated by either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. While previous... Read More »
Smallpox therapeutic marks BARDA’s 60th FDA approval/licensure/clearance through public-private partnerships
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Chimerix, Inc.’s smallpox therapeutic TEMBEXA last week marked a medical achievement and a milestone for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). BARDA itself was created in 2006. It began collaborating with... Read More »
GSU researcher receives $2.7M NIAID grant for study of seasonal, universal vaccination in elderly populations
A professor at Georgia State University’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Sang-Moo Kang, received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) last week for a study of seasonal and universal vaccination in elderly... Read More »
More than 40 U.S. representatives call for federal action to guarantee equitable vaccine distribution worldwide
In a letter to President Joe Biden last week, more than 40 U.S. representatives sought to use the impending G7 Summit as an opportunity to call for five quick, immediate actions to guarantee COVID-19 vaccines were administered worldwide. The group, led by U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Tom... Read More »
Experimental oral antiviral shows potential against COVID-19 in cell culture study
According to new research from National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists at the Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the oral antiviral drug TEMPOL could limit SARS-CoV-2 infection capabilities. Though still considered experimental, the drug’s... Read More »
Moderna enters agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine
Biotech company Moderna announced Tuesday that they had entered into an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific to fill/finish the sterile manufacturing and packaging of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Under the agreement, Thermo Fishers’ facility in Greenville, N.C., will be used for aseptic... Read More »
Centivax partners with U.S. Naval Medical Research Center to develop broad-spectrum COVID-19 therapeutic
With $4.2 million in funding from the Henry Jackson Foundation and a new partnership with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Centivax Inc. intends to pursue phase one clinical development of Centi-B9, a broad-spectrum injectable for treating SARS-CoV-2. Unlike other vaccines and... Read More »
Organizations call for $50B roadmap to end, recover from pandemic
The leaders of the international organizations for financing, health, and trade are urging government leaders to finance a new $50 billion roadmap to help end the pandemic and spur global economic recovery. Leaders of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization,... Read More »
CARB-X funds earmarked for antibiotics research
Basel, Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company BioVersys has secured a $4.35 million funding allotment from CARB-X to develop new antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections caused by ESKAPE pathogens. The pathogens are identified as bacteria that have developed resistance to most current,... Read More »
NIH begins Phase 1 clinical trial of NIAID’s universal flu vaccine
Following its development by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a human, phase one clinical trial to determine the safety and immunogenicity of a nanoparticle-based, universal influenza... Read More »
House legislation seeks to mandate accountability for foreign nations and review WHO’s pandemic actions
U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Conor Lamb (D-PA) sought legislative action on foreign nations’ health efforts last week, introducing the Never Again International Outbreak Prevention Act to establish new monitoring and reporting mandates, sanctions, and an investigation of the World... Read More »
Moderna launches rolling FDA submission process to fully license COVID-19 vaccine for adults
After months of operating under the ongoing pandemic, Moderna, Inc. announced this week that it has initiated the Biologics License Application (BLA) process with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to gain full approval of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. This approval would make... Read More »
Biden’s budget blueprint ramps up HHS, CDC preparedness and response funding
President Joe Biden’s first budget proposal would authorize the largest funding increase in nearly two decades for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), going above and beyond funding the agency’s disease-focused work at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services... Read More »
DOD funds earmarked for nitrile gloves production
Renco Corporation has secured a $13.1 million contract via the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to bolster domestic nitrile gloves production. Under the agreement, the initiative enables Renco to increase the production capacity of nitrile gloves... Read More »
Sanofi, GSK begin Phase 3 clinical study to chart safety, efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine candidate
Another COVID-19 vaccine may soon be on the way: Sanofi and GSK began enrollment for a phase three, global clinical study of their adjuvanted recombinant-protein vaccine candidate, with the anticipation it could be approved by the end of the year. Approval will, of course, depend on results, and... Read More »
WHO warns of need to distribute at least 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX this year
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 pandemic situation is stabilizing in nations with advanced vaccination programs, but it is surging in other, less equipped areas, demanding action lest the future become a repeat of present failures. WHO urges the distribution of 2... Read More »
Battelle, Ohio State and Northwestern collaborate to tackle COVID-19 infodemic in real time
A new collaborative effort between Battelle, a science and technology research and development firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio; the Ohio State University; and Northwestern University hopes to combat the “infodemic” of false and misleading information online surrounding the COVID-19... Read More »
Oxford University study of “mix and match” COVID-19 vaccines awarded $7.1M in CEPI funds
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) awarded $7.1 million grant funding to an Oxford University study assessing if COVID-19 vaccine regimens can be mixed. These funds will complement $3 million of funding already granted from the U.K. government and support from the... Read More »
FDA authorizes sotrovimab monoclonal antibody to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 cases
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added another tool to the fight against COVID-19 this week, granting emergency use authorization (EUA) to the monoclonal antibody therapy sotrovimab for use against mild to moderate COVID-19 cases in those 12 years and older. The EUA was granted to... Read More »
NTI | bio virtually gathers global experts to address biotechnology risks, life sciences oversight
The nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) | bio virtually convened an interdisciplinary group of experts and world leaders earlier this month to push for a global organization to reduce biotechnology risks, promote biosecurity and strengthen international oversight of life sciences... Read More »
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security earns Rockefeller Foundation grant for COVID-19 response research
Thanks to a $400,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security will document, evaluate and spread information on large-scale health successes among the COVID-19 response in low and middle-income nations over the past year. This information will be used... Read More »
A pandemic-free future requires public-private partnerships, government leadership
Academia and the private sector must be in a collaborative relationship with the United States government to invest in the research and development of technologies that will prevent a future pandemic, experts said on Wednesday during a webinar hosted by the Capitol Hill Steering Committee on... Read More »
CEPI, SK bioscience expand vaccine development partnership
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) officials said the organization has expanded its partnership with SK bioscience to develop a vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern. The agreement calls for CEPI to earmark up to $173.4 million for SK bioscience's to COVID-19... Read More »
Twenty union, stakeholder organizations offer PPE bill support
The AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the United States Footwear Manufacturers Association are among 20 union and stakeholder organizations supporting the Make PPE in America Act. The unions and stakeholder organizations recently forwarded correspondence to Majority... Read More »
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shown effective in 12 to 17 years olds in Phase 2/3 study
Plans are underway to submit the Moderna, Inc. COVID-19 vaccine to regulators in early June to expand its use, following positive results from a Phase 2/3 study that distributed the vaccine among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old. The vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, met its primary immunogenicity... Read More »
WHO teams up with Switzerland to launch BioHub for sharing, storing and analyzing pathogens globally
As part of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss Confederation, the first facility in the WHO BioHub System was agreed to this week. Such facilities, first announced in November 2020, will serve as centers for reception, sequencing, storage,... Read More »
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans seek classified DHS briefings on COVID-19 origins
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas written last week, Republican House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders requested two classified briefings on the origins of COVID-19 and any work conducted therein. “[W]e strongly support a comprehensive investigation into the... Read More »
Samsung Biologics to assist with fill-finish manufacturing of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine
Under a new agreement announced last week, Samsung Biologics will bolster the global supply of mRNA-1273, Moderna, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine, by providing large-scale, commercial fill-finish manufacturing. Technology transfer began upon execution of the deal so that Samsung Biologics could... Read More »