Emerging Infectious Diseases
At the second Global COVID-19 Summit last week, governments, including the United States, pledged to provide $3.2 billion in additional funds for COVID-19 and other pandemic preparedness needs and committed to expanding and accelerating testing and vaccine access.
This year’s summit was led by... Read More »
A vaccine candidate for eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) proved safe, well-tolerated, and robust in antibody response during a Phase 1 clinical trial reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The... Read More »
In a push to bolster COVID-19 diagnostic testing, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a $79.9 million contract to Premix, Inc. this week, funding new onshore production capacity for plastic resin used in tests’ pipette tips.
This will boost future supply chain demands and other... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) backed efforts at developing a "variant-proof" COVID-19 vaccine this week, announcing that it will provide up to $19.3 million to an international consortium consisting of Bharat Biotech International Ltd., the University of Sydney and... Read More »
As part of a pandemic preparedness push, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week that it chose Biobot Analytics to handle an expansion of the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS).
While not a household name, the NWSS works with public... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced Tuesday it had partnered with a number of industry and academic organizations to advance next-gen diagnostics to detect respiratory viruses in a single test.... Read More »
As part of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) Beyond the Needle program, Lumen Bioscience is working to create a new antibody cocktail for treatment of SARS-CoV-2, delivered intranasally.
Beyond the Needle, managed by the Division of Research Innovation and... Read More »
A Lyme disease vaccine candidate for adults and children at least 5 years old produced strong immunogenicity, safety and overall positive results this week in a Phase 2 trial conducted by its developers, Valneva SE and Pfizer Inc.
This marked the first clinical study where VLA15, as the... Read More »
While adding Paxlovid – nirmatrelvir and ritonavir – to its list of recommended treatments for mild and moderate COVID-19 patients at risk of hospital admission, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that lack of price transparency at Pfizer Inc. and testing demands before administration... Read More »
The U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) celebrated the completion of the initial design and construction last week for a new ApiJect Technology Development Center that promises greater manufacturing capacity for prefilled injectors used to administer vaccines... Read More »
A global, Phase 3 trial of approximately 20,000 older adult volunteers for the Bavarian Nordic A/S MVA-BN RSV vaccine candidate began this week and is expected to produce results by mid-2023.
The randomized, double-blind test will gather those aged 60 years and older in both the United States... Read More »
New clinical data from Moderna, Inc. this week showed that a month after using a bivalent COVID-19 booster candidate, mRNA-1273.211, superior vaccination efficacy was maintained against all variants of concern, including Beta, Delta, and Omicron.
These results stemmed from 50 µg booster doses,... Read More »
Utilizing its synthetic, CD8+ T cell Adaptive Vaccine platform, Emergex Vaccines Holding Ltd. began preclinical development last week of a new medical countermeasure against tularemia.
Tularemia is caused by francisella tularensis, an exceptionally virulent intracellular bacterial pathogen. The... Read More »
Due to discussions between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. over pre-exposure prophylactic use, the FDA will extend the review of a Biologics License Application (BLA) for REGEN-COV as a COVID-19 treatment for three months.
Regeneron seeks to use... Read More »
A new avenue of testing for COVID-19 opened last week, with emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer, a diagnostic capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection from breath samples.
In less than three minutes, the... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced a bill this week to fund research on the COVID-19 impacts on mental health and brain function.
“The pandemic showed us the need to prioritize mental health and support those suffering,” Cassidy... Read More »
Japan’s NEC Corporation gained seed funding of up to $4.8 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) this week to help its Norway-based subsidiary with the initial development of broadly protective betacoronavirus vaccine candidates.
NEC OncoImmunity AS (NOI)... Read More »
By supporting conservation in other nations, a bipartisan group of senators has proposed – through the Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2022 (S.4074) – that the risk of zoonotic disease transmission could be reduced for humans.
As introduced, the bill would authorize the U.S. government to... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) this week awarded four grants totaling approximately $4.3 million of investment over the first year alone to launch new Tuberculosis Research Advancement Centers (TRACs) across the country.
These grants will last five years,... Read More »
A Phase 3 clinical trial of Vaxxinity, Inc.’s UB-612 heterologous COVID-19 vaccine booster dose candidate gained up to $9.25 million in support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) this week to help evaluate the candidate’s abilities.
“As we strive to stay one... Read More »
A supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra intravenous treatment for COVID-19 cases among hospitalized patients was accepted by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week and will benefit from priority review.
If approved, the drug... Read More »
Within 10 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) sees a path to increase the use of and access to genomic surveillance for monitoring and analyzing pathogens through a strategy targeting inequities and leveraging existing capacities.
Genomic surveillance is a process whereby pathogens are... Read More »
The life of N95 masks – a component in fighting the spread of COVID-19 – may be extendable for far longer than initially thought with the use of ultraviolet light, according to recent research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
In a study published in the Journal... Read More »
Interim data emerged this week from a Phase 2/3 trial of Moderna, Inc.’s mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine on children between 6 months and 6 years old, demonstrating efficacy similar to usage on adults and with a generally well-tolerated profile.
The KidCOVE trial provided participants with two 25... Read More »
At a virtual meeting on April 6, 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet to address the future of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the process for selecting them for use against specific viral... Read More »
In a letter sent to Congressional leadership, the co-chairs of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus urged the inclusion of $5 billion in global COVID-19 response funding with any COVID-19 supplemental package.
This would shore up aid when USAID has said it will have fully obligated the funding... Read More »
In a study conducted on non-human primates, Soligenix, Inc.’s CiVax COVID-19 booster vaccine candidate produced increased neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 and its Delta Omicron variants.
The results, released last week, showed the heat-stable vaccine candidate generated as much... Read More »
The more detail provided on a disease, the better for doctors to pursue proper treatment, and in that regard, Roche and its subsidiary TIB Molbiol announced this week that they have tests capable of identifying between the Delta variant and various Omicron subvariants of SARS-CoV-2.
These tests... Read More »
With an eye on potential vaccine development, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced this week that it will expand its partnership with Bangladesh’s icddr,b for a study into survivors of the deadly Nipah virus.
This support will take the form of nearly $1 million... Read More »
U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced legislation Thursday that would modernize programs currently focused on surveilling and forecasting future pandemic-causing viruses.
Called the Modernizing Biosurveillance Capabilities and Epidemic Forecasting Act, the bill... Read More »
Dosing officially began last week in a Phase 2 trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 Omicron variant-specific, bivalent booster vaccine candidate.
Known currently as mRNA-1273.214, the candidate combines another Omicron booster candidate with Moderna’s official COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273.
"We are... Read More »
Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) began a clinical trial this week investigating rare but potentially serious systemic allergic reactions to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
“People who experienced an allergic reaction after receiving a COVID-19 mRNA... Read More »
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), its effort to produce safe and effective vaccines within 100 days of an identified epidemic or pandemic threat has garnered $1.535 billion from world governments and organizations.
The 100 Days Mission is a five-year plan... Read More »
Joined by nine of his colleagues, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) wrote to House Appropriations Committee leaders this week requesting additional financial support for global vaccination efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen international relations.
The effort is, at least in... Read More »
In the most recent update to its malaria guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the vaccine RTS,S/AS01 be used to prevent P. falciparum malaria among children living in areas of moderate to high transmission.
This represents the first time a vaccine for malaria was... Read More »
