Emerging Infectious Diseases
RAND Corp. recently developed an analytical tool that can be used to predict the regional risks of importing cases of COVID-19.
The tool can be used by policymakers to mitigate the threat to public health.
The COVID-19 Air Traffic Visualization tool uses International Air Transport... Read More »
A coalition of AbbVie, Harbour BioMed (HBM), Utrecht University (UU), and Erasmus Medical Center (EMC) have joined together to create a monoclonal antibody therapy that could hold the key to preventing and treating COVID-19, through its viral cause: SARS-CoV-2.
The therapeutic is based on a... Read More »
As part of an expansion to their existing partnership, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and MODERNATX, Inc. will increase the domestic manufacturing capacity of the mRNA-1273 vaccine, a candidate to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The relationship has been ongoing... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster (D-NH) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) introduced legislation to ensure that the United States can mass produce and administer a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available.
The Coronavirus Vaccine Development Act requires the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development... Read More »
A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examines how federal agencies use infectious disease modeling to fight outbreaks and what can be done to improve them.
The report, titled “Infectious Disease Modeling: Opportunities to Improve Coordination and Ensure... Read More »
As part of a validation study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publicly posted test performance data from four antibody test kits this week.
This independent performance validation effort is being undertaken alongside the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced it would bring $383 million to a new partnership with AstraZeneca this week to guarantee 300 million globally accessible doses of the company’s AZD1222 vaccine candidate for COVID-19.
That vaccine still has to be proven safe... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is seeking unanimous consent on a resolution that encourages U.S. engagement with the international community on the COVID-19 response.
The resolution is in response to the Trump Administration’s failure to participate in global summits related to the research and... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has partnered with Bharat Biotech (BBIL) and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to develop a Chikungunya vaccine, providing as much as $14.1 million for manufacturing and clinical development.
On the line is a two-dose,... Read More »
First responders and healthcare workers stand to benefit from a new partnership between the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Evidation Health, which are sifting through data from wearable devices to create an early warning algorithm for COVID-19 symptoms.
This... Read More »
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officials said Baltimore special agents seized over 14,000 unapproved COVID-19 capsules and several COVID-19 test kits via Operation Stolen Promise.
Operation Stolen Promise is a national operation that includes... Read More »
Hollingsworth & Vose has secured a $2.2 million Department of Defense (DoD) contract to increase domestic ventilator and respirator production.
The effort involves producing 27.5 million N95 filters, and 3.1 million N95 respirators per monthly, beginning in August. The endeavor is in support of... Read More »
Scientists and engineers at Texas A&M University are developing a device that can rapidly identify antibodies that can neutralize infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
"The difficulty of developing therapeutics and vaccines against emerging viral threats can also be obviously... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is working with Quidel Corp. to develop to detect COVID-19 and three additional respiratory viruses.
The two will work together to develop a rapid multi-analyte diagnostic test for use on the Sofia 2 assay system to detect the... Read More »
As authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS ASPR) has released an additional $250 million for aid health care systems treating COVID-19... Read More »
The latest addition to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) COVID-19 countermeasure portfolio is an automated total antibody test being developed in partnership with Siemens Healthineers.
The serological, lab-based test proposes to detect two items in human... Read More »
Pentagon officials said FLIR Systems has installed its EST screening system at the Visitor Center in Washington, D.C., to screen visitors for potential COVID-19 symptoms.
“For more than 40 years, FLIR has provided advanced thermal imaging technology to America’s military — on its aircraft,... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) met with officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to examine cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The attacks have been targeting federal... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Larry Bucshon (R-IN) introduced two bills designed to boost COVID-19 diagnostic testing.
Together, the two pieces of legislation would provide $750 million of grants for public health laboratories, hospitals, and other health providers.
“In order to save... Read More »
A partnership between the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and biotechnology company Genentech will yield a phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate two investigational drugs for the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases: anti-ST2 and IL-22-Fc.
The drugs will be tested on... Read More »
In separate statements released this week, both the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense and the nonpartisan, nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) expressed concern with the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Terminating the U.S.... Read More »
More than 30 countries and international partners/institutions have rallied behind the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), a new initiative from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Costa Rica designed to make scientific tools to fight COVID-19 universally available.
The show of unity... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) introduce legislation directing federal agencies to share real-time information about testing supply inventory and shortages publicly.
Hospitals, health care systems, nursing homes, and first responders have struggled to obtain tests and other critical supplies... Read More »
Chimeron Bio and George Mason University's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (NCBID) are teaming up to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine development will be based on Chimeron Bio's ChaESARTM self-amplifying RNA technology. Plus, it will integrate Mason's complimenting... Read More »
Operation Warp Speed, the White House-created program to speed up COVID-19 vaccine candidate development and manufacturing domestically, will benefit from a $628 million expansion of an existing public-private partnership with Emergent BioSolutions Inc., the U.S. Department of Health and Human... Read More »
A phase 3 clinical trial that will utilize a mix of Actemra/RoActemra and remdesivir on hospitalized COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia is expected to begin in June, as part of a collaboration between Roche and Gilead Sciences, Inc.
That trial, REMDACTA, will be double-blind, randomized,... Read More »
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said it will manufacture 1 billion doses of its pandemic vaccine adjuvant system in 2021 to support the development of multiple adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
The pharmaceutical company says its pandemic adjuvant technology could make a significant contribution... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jim Risch (R-ID), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) last week introduced legislation designed to better detect and contain infectious disease outbreaks overseas before they become global pandemics.
The Global Health Security and Diplomacy Act (GHSDA) requires the president to... Read More »
Following a response to her request of state and federal agencies to provide a detailed account of COVID-19 response efforts, U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne’s (D-IA) has launched a data tracker to provide accountability in the system.
Announcing her efforts as a matter of transparency, Axne has now... Read More »
A new reference panel being offered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposes an additional, independent validation step to guarantee the quality of COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
Since COVID-19 reached U.S. shores earlier this year, many tests have arisen to detect its viral cause:... Read More »
Recent findings from a NORC at the University of Chicago study have determined if a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, 49 percent of respondents said they plan to get vaccinated.
The nationwide poll was conducted May 14-18, 2020, via the AmeriSpeak Panel - the probability-based panel of NORC at... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report detailing the process of developing a COVID-19 vaccine.
The United States government is funding multiple efforts to develop vaccines. GAO said it is an expensive, lengthy process that involves a series of steps first to identify... Read More »
Merck announced a series of actions against COVID-19 this week, joining the fight against the global pandemic through two agreements that further potential vaccines against its viral source, SARS-CoV-2, and a research collaboration intended to create a novel antiviral candidate.
“With our... Read More »
A COVID-19 vaccine candidate created by Novavax, Inc. and supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) began clinical trials this week, with the enrollment of participants in a Phase 1/2 study.
The vaccine in question is called NVX-CoV2373, a stable, prefusion protein... Read More »
A preliminary report on data from the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, showed positive potential for remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19.
The randomized, controlled trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and... Read More »
