Emerging Infectious Diseases
For at least eight months following a single dose, the REGEN-COV COVID-19 drug cocktail developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. could provide affiliated risk reductions of 81.6 percent, according to a new analysis of a Phrase 3 trial.
That trial, jointly run by Regeneron and the National... Read More »
MSA Safety Inc. earned a $4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week to produce elastomeric air-purifying respirators to be added to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
The MSA’s Advantage 290 Air-Purifying Respirator (APR) consists of a... Read More »
Reckoning with the more the 750,000 Americans killed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the failures that stalked response, and the threat of future outbreaks, a bipartisan collection of four senators introduced a new bill last week to build a 9/11-style commission charged with investigating the outbreak... Read More »
Interim data from Pfizer Inc.’s novel COVID-19 antiviral candidate, PAXLOVID, revealed an oral treatment with the ability to cut the risk of hospitalization and death by as much as 89 percent among adult patients.
These results, pulled from the randomized Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR (Evaluation of... Read More »
Last week, U.S. Reps. Ami Bera (D-CA), M.D. and Don Young (R-AK) introduced a bill to reauthorize a national tuberculosis strategy, authorize grants for state health departments to focus on TB in high-risk populations, and promote interagency coordination in containing the disease.
Despite the... Read More »
U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) asked David Pekoske, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), for an update on the agency’s contingency plan for a potential workforce reduction due to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for... Read More »
The antiviral Molnupiravir became the first oral treatment for COVID-19 to receive authorization this week, winning approval from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases in adults.
Specifically, users must have had at... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) made its eighth emergency use listing (EUL) for a COVID-19 vaccine this week, granting that honor to Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN.
COVAXIN is formulated from an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- antigen. Use of the vaccine by adults was... Read More »
Republican U.S. senators took aim at the Biden administration’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 epidemic during a Thursday hearing, criticizing the new mandate on vaccinations and blaming federal policies for shortages of therapeutics, testing and other critical materials.
“Cases and... Read More »
A Q2 Solutions Co., Ltd. lab facility in Beijing, China, became the first East Asian lab to join the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) centralized COVID-19 lab network this week.
“I am delighted to today welcome Q2 Solutions’ facility in Beijing to this group of... Read More »
The failures, successes, and lessons learned from the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines should be incorporated immediately into future pandemic vaccine planning if the world hopes to avoid the delays and pitfalls of the modern ecosystem, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health... Read More »
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Moderna, Inc. that an assessment of an emergency use authorization request for its COVID-19 vaccine to be used on adolescents may not be completed before January 2022.
The delay was due to a stated necessity to evaluate recent... Read More »
The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator released a new strategic plan last week that seeks $23.4 billion from international investors by September 2022 to patch inequalities in access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, vaccines, and personal protective equipment.
This is particularly... Read More »
Reckoning with the threat of diseases present and future, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced a new collaboration last week with BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) to develop and win approval for diagnostics capable of identifying COVID-19, influenza, as... Read More »
According to a new report from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), the world is broken in its inequality, division, and lack of accountability, making a health emergency ecosystem incapable of ending the COVID-19 pandemic or preventing another.
The opportunity for reform is... Read More »
This week, an agreement was reached between the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and Merck pledges low-cost access to the investigational oral COVID-19 antiviral molnupiravir worldwide, with a particular focus on 105 low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Jointly developed by Merck and Ridgeback... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) forwarded correspondence to three agencies seeking an outline regarding administration plans to vaccinate 70 percent of the world population by September 2022.
Markey and Krishnamoorthi, co-founders of the COVID-19... Read More »
Biotechnology company INOVIO finished enrollment for a West Africa-based Phase 1B clinical trial of INO-4500, its DNA vaccine candidate for Lassa Fever, this week.
A full complement of 220 participants will participate in this first trial for a Lassa fever vaccine in West Africa. The area was... Read More »
Moderna Inc. announced Monday it had a new memorandum of understanding to make up to 110 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine available to the African Union.
The company said it is prepared to deliver the first 15 million doses in the fourth quarter of 2021, with 35 million doses... Read More »
With the investment of $26 million announced this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hopes to modernize the science of infectious disease prediction and analytics.
The first investments from CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) -- which is expected... Read More »
Legislation from U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan (D-MA) and David B. McKinley (R-WV) will be considered in an upcoming hearing hosted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, the legislators said Monday.
The Bolstering Infectious Outbreaks (BIO) Preparedness Workforce Act... Read More »
As part of ongoing efforts to increase COVID-19 test access, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week that it would trigger major investments into accelerating the regulatory pathway for at-home COVID-19 tests and hopes to revise the regulatory pathway... Read More »
According to top line data from a Phase 2/3 study of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine among children ages 6-11, released this week, the company determined that two doses given a month apart produced a strong antibody response -- stronger, even, than those seen in adults.
Conducted in collaboration... Read More »
The Biden-Harris administration has reprioritized global health security at the top of America’s national security agenda in efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and bolster health systems worldwide by improving preparation, prevention, detection, and response to the next public health... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), John Thune (R-SD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Ben Sasse (R-NE) forwarded correspondence last week to President Joe Biden encouraging the United States to take the global lead regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and pandemic combating efforts.
“We urge you in the... Read More »
In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has invested more than $562 million into U.S. companies to boost domestic manufacturing of COVID-19 tests and supplies.
These funds, pulled from the American Rescue Plan Act, have benefited supplies such as pipette tips,... Read More »
Novartis officials said the company has established an agreement leveraging its manufacturing capacity and capabilities to address the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine support.
The agreement targets the fill and finish of more than 50 million doses in 2021 at the Novartis... Read More »
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced it had joined the international Human Vaccines Project (HVP) Thursday, bringing its expertise and computing resources to the project to aid the development of a universal coronavirus vaccine and to improve understanding of immune response.... Read More »
Recognizing the delays that have plagued low-income countries at nearly every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced this week a pledge of up to $120 million to accelerate access to the antiviral drug molnupiravir among low-income nations.
Molnupiravir is... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced a new solicitation this week for the development of rapid and affordable at-home SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics, as well as supportive technologies to further more widespread, decentralized testing for COVID-19.
In reaching... Read More »
On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took action to expand the use of a booster dose for COVID-19 vaccines in eligible populations.
“Today’s actions demonstrate our commitment to public health in proactively fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting FDA... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 397-22 to approve a bipartisan bill that aims to reform how the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is administered and managed. The legislation now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
The Strengthening America’s Strategic National... Read More »
Results arrived this week for a Phase 3 trial of Valneva SE’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001, and they revealed neutralizing antibody activity greater than 95 percent, along with broad T-cell responses and significant tolerability.
It was reported that the inactivated, adjuvanted vaccine... Read More »
Fed up with the dangers of an unprepared and underfunded public health system, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) voiced support this week for a fiscal year 2022 bill that would increase Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding by $1.85 billion.
The bill, released by the Labor, Health... Read More »
After a recent request from U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) updated guidance on recognizing people as fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The White House indicated it will reopen land ports of entry on Nov. 8, 2021, after the sites have... Read More »
