Emerging Infectious Diseases
A new, Battelle-developed system known as TechAware Search Continuous Automated Scanning for Technology Transformation (CASTT) proposes to help identify epidemic threats through a mix of text data analysis, behavioral change prediction, and creation of a graph neural network.
The project is... Read More »
With the COVID-19 pandemic entering a new phase, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) continues to emphasize testing in addition to the growing number of vaccines, and as such, has entered a new agreement with Cepheid, Inc. to develop two additional... Read More »
Recognizing that many data sets are needed to tell the full story of the COVID-19 pandemic and understand if herd immunity can be achieved, two scientists from the University of Washington have created a statistical model of key COVID-19 data to model the disease’s true prevalence in the United... Read More »
In a letter written to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), more than 70 U.S. representatives and senators have called for providing up to $34 billion to speed up COVID-19 vaccine production for global use.
“No investment in the fight... Read More »
A single dose of Vaxzevria was shown to be 82 percent effective against cases of severe disease, hospitalization, or death caused by Beta/Gamma variant of SARS-CoV-2, according to pre-print data from the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN).
Vaxzevria is another two-dose vaccine.... Read More »
Drawing on funds from the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration announced last week that its Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will invest more than $1.6 billion into testing and mitigation efforts focused on the communities most vulnerable to COVID-19.
“As we continue... Read More »
Continuing to flesh out medical countermeasure options for the ongoing threat of COVID-19, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced this week that it will provide $13.1 million to Shanghai Zerun Biotechnology Co., Ltd. for clinical trials and scale-up support of vaccine... Read More »
The House of Representatives voted this week to advance the Securing America from Epidemics (SAFE) Act, which would authorize U.S. participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI).
CEPI is a public-private partnership focused on developing vaccines for highly infectious... Read More »
On Monday, the Infectious Diseases Society of America commended the U.S. House for appropriations that would bolster the fight against COVID-19 and HIV, antibiotic research and development, and global health security while combating the effects of the opioid crisis.
However, the organization... Read More »
All 625 slots of a randomized Phase 2 trial of the joint-Valneva SE and Pfizer Inc. Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15-221 have been filled with participants, finishing the recruitment phase of the trial.
The trial is focused on participants between 5 to 65 years old. They will receive doses... Read More »
A phase 2/3 study that put oral opaganib to 475 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 affiliated pneumonia concluded this week, and its creator, RedHill Biopharma Ltd., said that top-line results are expected to follow in a matter of weeks.
"Emerging data is showing that variants are... Read More »
Last week, a U.S. resident was hospitalized in Dallas, following confirmation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services that they had contracted monkeypox after a trip to Nigeria.
While the CDC stressed that all flights the... Read More »
Given the destructive nature of the past year and a half under the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) last week introduced two bills to strengthen pandemic response and treat them as national security threats rather than political minefields.
First was the National Security... Read More »
Partners in COVAX, a global collaborative effort to accelerate development, manufacturing and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, launched the COVAX Marketplace last week to match buyers with suppliers through a secure new platform and overcome short-term bottlenecks.
The Marketplace is a... Read More »
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently issued the first Surgeon General's Advisory of this administration warning of the urgent dangers posed by health misinformation and disinformation, threatening COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the United States.
The American public needs to be aware... Read More »
Approximately $398 million was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a means of helping 1,540 small rural hospitals address COVID-19 testing and mitigation.
“Our state-based SHIP grantees... Read More »
A congressional panel began the formal process of investigating the origins of Covid-19 Wednesday amid recriminations over allegations of researchers being intentionally misled by the Chinese government and American media and politicians.
U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) labeled it “a bit... Read More »
With a pair of new advance purchase agreements arranged this week, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, intends to add two inactivated virus vaccines for COVID-19 to its stores for COVAX -- one from Sinopharm and one from Sinovac.
Sinopharm’s offering is BBIBP-CorV, which will become available this... Read More »
The first healthy adult participants of the Phase 1/2 randomized and observer-blinded test of Moderna’s new quadrivalent seasonal flu vaccine were dosed last week, officially beginning a trial much desired by global health experts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has a list of targets for... Read More »
Questions were spurred last week with news from Pfizer and BioNTech that progress was being made on a COVID-19 vaccine booster the companies indicated would likely be needed in the future -- a stance promptly contradicted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease... Read More »
While the efficacy of many COVID-19 vaccines has largely been established, more specific questions remain, such as their effectiveness on the immunosuppressed and transplant patients -- a fact that has prompted a new study, led by the Oslo University Hospital and funded by a series of national and... Read More »
LightDeck Diagnostics, which produces both SARS-CoV-2 Ultra-Rapid Antigen and COVID-19 Total Antibody Tests, was awarded a $35.1 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) last week to increase production capacity for these speedy diagnostics.
Both tests are point-of-care tests... Read More »
A recent study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health suggests that one in every four COVID-19 deaths in the United States may be attributed to hospitals strained by surging caseloads.
Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the study looked at data from 150,000 COVID-19... Read More »
Is the United States prepared for the next pandemic?
That question has forced experts to either rethink preparedness strategies or find ways to bolster existing policy in the era of COVID-19.
For the researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, this has meant identifying 13... Read More »
A chikungunya vaccine candidate created by Valneva SE is proceeding through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pipeline, having been awarded a breakthrough therapy designation this week after already gaining fast track designation.
A single shot therapy, the vaccine -- known as VLA1553... Read More »
A nationwide study from the University of Utah found that those who receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are 91 percent less likely to develop the disease than those who are unvaccinated.
This news came from the RECOVER (Research on the Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Essential Response Personnel)... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined several senators in introducing legislation calling on the Biden administration to end the mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals on public transportation throughout the United States, including airports, commercial airplanes, buses, and rail systems.... Read More »
As part of its Safe Return to School Diagnostic Testing Initiative, the National Institutes of Health funded five additional research projects last week to investigate ways of safely returning people to in-person learning in areas with vulnerable and underserved populations.
Up to $15 million... Read More »
A new legislative effort is pushing for a new program to designate academic medical centers as research and communication hubs in the American preparation for and response to pandemics.
While COVID-19 is firmly in mind with the program, it also seeks to aid developments for fighting future... Read More »
By the end of 2021, the terms of a new supply agreement will see Dynavax Technologies Corporation deliver its CpG 1018 adjuvant to Clover Biopharmaceuticals for use in its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, SCB-2019.
SCB-2019 is a protein-based vaccine that, pending regulatory approvals, is expected to... Read More »
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported this week that a COVAXIN adjuvant they funded, Alhydroxiquim-II, is actively aiding the COVID-19 response efforts in India, boosting the COVAXIN vaccine’s efficacy among the millions who have taken it.
Alhydroxiquim-II was originally... Read More »
Moderna, Inc. released a clinical update of a small Phase 1 trial this week evaluating the performance of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine against three of the ever-multiplying strains of the disease, including the worrisome Delta variant.
Based on serum samples from eight vaccinated participants,... Read More »
Antibiotics underpin modern medicine— used to treat everything from bacterial infections to cancer.
However, a world without effective antibiotics because of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could mean the unraveling of health care. It also has implications for national security as antibiotics... Read More »
A new policy brief released this week by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) assessed the role of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) during the COVID-19 pandemic and concluded that reforms are necessary both within the agency and beyond to improve federal pandemic... Read More »
A small, veteran-owned business in Florida, Bloodstone Division, LLC, earned a $105,877 award from the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to fund the development of an antiviral disinfectant for COVID-19 and beyond.
Traditional disinfecting... Read More »
