Emerging Infectious Diseases
The results of a six-year study conducted by the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance were released this week, and the data revealed that Nipah virus is not as confined to what is traditionally known as the Nipah belt along the Bangladesh-India border as previously thought.
Bats throughout Bangladesh... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gained a major new partner last week for its effort to improve local healthcare’s capabilities against infectious diseases, in the form of the nearly 3,000 local health departments comprising the National Association of County and City Health... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) introduced the Commitment to Defeat the Virus and Keep America Healthy Act, a package of over 50 bills from the House Energy and Commerce Committee that deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The act includes bills related to pandemic preparedness and response,... Read More »
Reps. Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) recently introduced a measure designed to develop a national aviation preparedness plan regarding future public health emergencies.
The National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2020 is supported by key aviation stakeholders, including the American... Read More »
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) awarded a $12.7 million contract to expand production capacity for two rapid COVID-19 point-of-care tests with InBios International Inc. last week.
This will allow InBios to expand the number of tests it produces by 20... Read More »
Hologic, Inc. will expand domestic production of COVID-19 tests as a result of a new, $119 million contract with the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD).
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has supported Hologic throughout its... Read More »
New Mexico is one of many areas throughout the United States currently facing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, and in response, the New Mexico Congressional delegation called on federal agencies this week to provide a full accounting of the state’s share of stockpiled PPE.
Federal Emergency... Read More »
In a phase three clinical trial, University Hospitals (UH) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) will study AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate -- AZD1222 -- for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Approximately 80 clinical investigation sites across the country will enroll up to... Read More »
The states of Washington, Oregon, and Nevada have joined California’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, which will independently review the safety and efficacy of any vaccine approved by the FDA for distribution.
“California has led with science and data through the COVID... Read More »
Sanofi and GSK have signed an agreement with Gavi, the legal administrator of the COVAX Facility, to make available 200 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, if approved by regulators, to the COVAX Facility.
“To address a global health crisis of this magnitude, it takes unique partnerships.... Read More »
Over the next two months, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) will provide $375 million to Eli Lilly and Company in exchange for 300,000 doses of its investigational COVID-19 therapeutic, LY-CoV555.
These will be the first doses of the drug available. If... Read More »
A group of lawmakers is requesting the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) to conduct a hearing regarding the Department of Defense's (DOD) role in Operation Warp Speed (OWS).
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), members of the SASC), forwarded correspondence to SASC... Read More »
A collaborative paper from researchers at the University of Oxford, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal this week, argued that meaningful comparison between potential COVID-19 vaccines will need standardized methods and ongoing studies to determine efficacy.
The authors of the... Read More »
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) introduced legislation to restore a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program designed to assess a pandemic's potential implications on critical infrastructure.
The bipartisan Analyzing Disaster Vulnerabilities and Applicable National Capabilities for... Read More »
A group of Congressional lawmakers recently urged House and Senate leadership to develop policy plans to prevent and mitigate the impact of future pandemics.
In a letter signed by 134 senators and members of the House, the lawmakers pointed out that the United States leads the world with more... Read More »
A Michigan system that tracks suspected opioid deaths and naloxone use by first responders gives a better picture of how opioid overdoses rose after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The real-time tracking system developed by the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center (IPC), in... Read More »
Researchers from McGill University are tracking the global race for a COVID-19 vaccine with a new online tool that tracks real-time progress on the development of the more than 50 candidates currently in human trials.
"Our goal with the vaccine tracker is to help the public find and access... Read More »
Leaders of the effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine said Tuesday more than 60,000 Americans have volunteered to participate in clinical trials at six different pharma companies with the goal to begin distributing a vaccine by January.
Operation Warp Speed, created by the Trump administration... Read More »
A month after the federal government announced it would provide 150 million Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 tests throughout the United States, states have begun detailing how they, in turn, will utilize those tests for maximum effect.
For most of the 32 states and the District of Columbia, which have... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) gained a $20 million investment from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) last week to support the development of vaccines targeting emerging infectious diseases.
These funds will be provided over a five year period,... Read More »
Roche and Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. are now collaborating on the development, manufacture, and distribution of AT-527, an Atea-created investigational oral antiviral for use on COVID-19.
The drug, which is currently in phase two clinical trials for hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19,... Read More »
While the pursuit of treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 is ongoing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a major milestone last week with the approval of the first treatment for the deadly disease: Gilead Sciences Inc.’s Veklury, also known as remdesivir.
The approval is... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has expanded the manufacturing network for its COVID-19 vaccine portfolio.
The nonprofit foundation, which finances independent research projects to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, has signed vaccine manufacturing... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has enlisted its clinical studies network's services to assist with a COVID-19 clinical trial.
Officials said Technical Resources International, Inc. (TRI), a BARDA subsidiary, would support the clinical trial in conjunction... Read More »
The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) in the United Kingdom and Q2 Solutions in the United States became the latest labs to join the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) centralized laboratory network for COVID-19 vaccines this week.
“We are... Read More »
Last year, CARB-X awarded $127.5 million and 23 awards to developers pursuing novel ways to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to its fourth annual report.
This marks the largest funding effort so far conducted by CARB-X, which coincided with several other successful milestones. For... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (R-TX) introduced legislation designed to protect border communities against the COVID-19 pandemic by amending the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission Act.
This bill, the Binational Health Strategies Act of 2020, directs the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission to... Read More »
A cooperative effort between The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) gave life to the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey (CARES) this week, to chart how many people in Texas have COVID-19... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded contracts this week to ICON Government & Public Health Solutions, Pharm-Olam LLC, PRA Health Sciences, Inc., and Technical Resources International, Inc. for the development of various medical countermeasures.
Granted... Read More »
Public health leaders from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) wrote Congress last week to request emergency funding to benefit COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration.
The supplemental funding request came... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health kicked off a large, phase three clinical trial last week to chart the safety and efficacy of three modulator drugs being considered for use on patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
The three drugs to be used are Janssen Research & Development, LLC’s infliximab... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) awarded a $6.98 million contract to Teel Plastics to expand the production of injection-molded and extruded swabsticks used in COVID-19 testing kits.
This award will increase production by an additional 50 million per month for each swabstick type by March... Read More »
A randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics has generated conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of repurposed drugs -- like remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine, among others -- to treat COVID-19.
The results from the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, coordinated by the World Health... Read More »
Another COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise for antibodies produced, at least in preclinical results released by Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio last week for their mRNA-based offering, MRT5500.
The candidate produced neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Beckman Coulter are joining forces to fund a multi-center clinical trial of Beckman Coulter’s Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW) hematology biomarker, a test meant to rapidly detect MIS-C.
MIS-C, or Multisystem Inflammatory... Read More »
