Recent News

By Category: Countermeasures

Dengue Discoveries Preventing Deadly Disease

(Liberty Voice) Recent research into mosquitos and the deadly dengue virus shows new promise for preventing transmission of the disease. Roughly 50 to 100 million cases of infection are reported annually, and several tropical countries saw an increase in their numbers during 2013. In Costa Rica for example, the number of registered cases more than Read More »

March 16, 2014
| Filed under Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, and Public Health
Share

RFI – Identification of Diagnostic Devices for Biological Threats

(Global Biodefense) The Department of Defense is collecting information from companies who are currently in the U.S. domestic healthcare market or are considering a future entry into the market for FDA-cleared diagnostics for human diseases caused by exposure to biological threat agents. The Request for Information (RFI) submission period originally closed in January of this Read More »

March 13, 2014
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biosafety, Biotechnology, and Countermeasures
Share

UTMB Collaborates on Program Targeting Potential Bioterrorist Pathogens

(Global Biodefense) The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Profectus Biosciences, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been awarded up to $26 million to advance treatments of the highly lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses Ebola and Marburg. These filoviruses are considered “Tier 1″ pathogens by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Read More »

March 11, 2014
| Filed under Agents & Toxins, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, and Research
Share

FDA grants ‘fast track designation’ to Tekmira to develop Ebola drug

(The Global Dispatch) Canadian pharmaceutical company, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced Wednesday that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for the development of TKM-Ebola, an anti-Ebola viral therapeutic. The FDA’s Fast Track is a process designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions Read More »

March 11, 2014
| Filed under Biosafety, Countermeasures, and Research
Share

Discovery may lead to vaccine for all 4 types of dengue

(Futurity) Researchers have discovered a new target for human antibodies that may lead to a vaccine for all four types of dengue virus—and may also have potential for vaccine development for other diseases, including SARS and HIV. Creating a vaccine that protects people from the four types of dengue virus has frustrated scientists for decades. Read More »