Public Health
The U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) recently led an investigation that led to the indictment of 20 Mexican nationals among 39 defendants for narcotics trafficking.
The individuals had roles in a $4.7 million conspiracy to distribute more than 335 kilograms of methamphetamine and 22... Read More »
As Congress contemplates the best approach to tackling the problem of overdose deaths, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced last week the Fighting Emerging Narcotics Through Additional Nations to Yield Lasting (FENTANYL) Results Act (S.B. 1160).
The FENTANYL Results Act, the... Read More »
Moderna, Inc. revealed clinical data on its Omicron-containing bivalent COVID booster candidate, mRNA-1273.214, this week, showing that one-month post-administration, a 50 µg dose of the booster provided a superior neutralizing antibody response compared to its predecessor... Read More »
After considering data from a Phase 3 clinical trial of approximately 30,000 participants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) unanimously voted to recommend the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine gain Emergency Use Authorization... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced plans to launch a competition seeking to advance incident command dashboard technologies aiding emergency response.
The Command Dashboard Integrating Next-Gen or CommanDING, Tech Challenge would unite... Read More »
Following a World Health Organization (WHO) global research consultation, more than 500 experts emphasized that expedited studies, strengthened collaboration from researchers in endemic countries, public health responses, and new clinical studies are needed to address monkeypox.
Monkeypox has... Read More »
Amid some nervousness over a monkeypox outbreak this year, Bavarian Nordic A/S announced that it has a new supply contract for its smallpox vaccine meant to help those at risk of monkeypox in the short or medium term.
The country to benefit from that contract remains unidentified at this time.... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) recently applauded the House Committee on Homeland Security for advancing the PREVENT Act, legislation he introduced to protect drug handling Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel.
“As the crisis at the southern border continues to spiral out of control, so... Read More »
Beginning with $20 million this year, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will commit up to $300 million to support antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infection research conducted through the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) over... Read More »
Through awards amounting to approximately $577 million, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is working to create nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern, working to develop innovative drugs.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has... Read More »
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 »
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 »
New Mexico wildfires have resulted in Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra declaring a public health emergency in the state.
“We are working closely with health authorities in New Mexico and monitoring the needs of healthcare facilities to support their efforts to save... 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 »
President Joe Biden has forwarded to Congress his administration's first National Drug Control Strategy, which is an initiative focused on a whole-of-government approach to address the overdose epidemic.
“This Strategy goes after two big drivers of the opioid epidemic: untreated addiction and... 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 »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week the launch of the new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA).
The latest addition to the CDC umbrella will focus on improving U.S. capabilities to utilize data, models, and analytics for quicker decision-making... 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 »
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 »
In a push back against the spread of fentanyl overdoses throughout the United States, U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) wrote to National Drug Control Policy director Rahul Gupta last week, asking for support on legislation to permanently classify the substance.
The... Read More »
With the introduction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tribal Public Health Security and Preparedness Act, a bipartisan collection of senators has made a bicameral push to increase Tribal public health security and preparedness through greater access to CDC resources.
U.S.... Read More »
Legislation introduced to create a national plan to combat the growth of the methamphetamine addiction and overdose crisis was recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The Methamphetamine Response Act requires the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to create and deploy a... Read More »
A new solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) this week sought modern means of identifying and mitigating threats to so-called soft targets: sports venues, shopping complexes, schools, and more.
As a program, Securing... Read More »
A new attempt to strengthen the U.S. public health, medical preparedness, and response system will have its day in the Senate, after it was voted forward in a 20-2 vote by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
The Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New... Read More »
In a new report released this week, the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) called out gaps in states’ emergency response capabilities and advocated for urgent investment in a new public health system.
The report, Ready or Not 2022: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases,... Read More »
For its second year of Operation Engage – a community-level approach to tackling the drug epidemic – the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Detroit Field Division received funding to add efforts in a second Michigan city: Kalamazoo.
“The Detroit Field Division is bringing... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently announced that the fourth Hacking for Homeland Security (H4HS) program course is slated for Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
The course would be offered during the Spring 2022 semester at the Heinz... Read More »
Five senators, led by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), are urging Senate leadership to support additional funding for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) efforts to boost security at U.S. ports of entry and improve its ability to detect and seize drugs.
Peters, chairman of the Homeland Security... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY) has introduced the Northern Border Reopening Act, which urges the Biden administration to end COVID-19 mandates for Canadians crossing the U.S. northern border.
“Vaccine mandates being imposed upon our truckers, workers in other essential industries, families, and... Read More »
The beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic were a fraught time for the medical supply chain, but a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notes that significant gains were made by the United States health supply chain and industrial base over the last year.
“The... Read More »
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation to a Bavarian Nordic A/S vaccine candidate known as MVA-BN RSV this week, setting the preventative for RSV up for a hastened review and development cycle.
The vaccine’s focus, known as respiratory... Read More »
In a letter to President Joe Biden, 116 Republican members of Congress, led by U.S. Rep. Bran Steil (WI), pressed the administration to immediately crack down on fentanyl distribution and list the drug as a permanent Schedule 1 substance.
Drug overdoses have been on the rise for years, though... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a five-year, $17 million contract to Battelle to conduct research that advances health protection for the warfighter in present and near-future operational environments, the company announced Wednesday.
Awarded under the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Airman... Read More »
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) launched a new initiative this week to combat drug-related violent crime and overdose deaths in 34 major cities across 23 states.
Known as Operation Overdrive, this initiative intends to attack the criminal drug supply chain and associated violence as a... Read More »
With the introduction of the Tracking Pathogens Act (S. 3534) this week, U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) proposed the institution of national genomic sequence-based surveillance as a means of charting circulating pathogens, transmission patterns, and... Read More »
