• $150 million anthrax vaccine contract goes to firm with close Democratic Party ties

    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on the evening of 29 December that it was awarding PharmAthene $150 million to develop and produce an anthrax vaccine; FOXNews notes the strong ties to the Democratic Party of senior company executives

  • Europe would be better with a generic, rather than disease-specific, pandemic response plan

    New study argues that the emphasis in Europe on disease-specific emergency plans utilized by most European countries could cost precious time and resources; “Countries and organizations invest enormous resources in developing plans for specific diseases, which may not even present a threat in the future,” the study says

  • Montana State team developing new way to fight influenza, bioterrorism threats

    Researchers develop aerosol spray containing tiny protein cages that will activate an immune response in the lungs; the protein cages trigger the rapid production of lymphoid tissue in the lung; the technology could be used to prevent or treat a range of pulmonary diseases including influenza; it might counter bioterrorism threats, such as airborne microbes

  • Immunovaccine offers enhanced anthrax vaccine candidate

    Currently, to provide protection from anthrax, individuals receive a 6-dose regime with three injections given two weeks apart, followed by three additional injections given at 6, 12, and 18 months; annual booster injections of the vaccine are recommended thereafter; Canadian company Immunovaccine says it developed a method to cut this arduous regimen by half

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  • Tulane University, Corgenix awarded $15,000,000 to expand Lassa fever research

    Lassa fever, because of its high fatality rate, the ability to spread easily by human-to-human contact, and the potential for aerosol release, is classified as a bio safety level 4 agent and is included on the NIAID Category A list of potential bioterrorism threats; new study will focus on identification of novel B-cell epitopes on Lassa virus proteins, aiming to develop agents to treat and prevent the disease

  • Five infectious diseases that might re-emerge

    Dreaded infectious diseases of the past have largely been kept at bay by antibioitcs and other medical advances; these diseases still linger, though, and could pose a threat – either because some parents refuse to vaccinate their kids owing to concerns about possible links between such vaccination and autism (Mumps), or because terrorist might use the pathogens in a bioterror attack (small pox)

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  • Drug could save many injured soldiers’ lives

    Loss of blood is the main problem with many battlefield injuries; when the body loses a lot of blood, it tries to compensate by going into shock; researchers show that valproic acid, an HDAC inhibitor already used to treat epilepsy, increased survival rates in rats that had lost a lot of blood; it does so by causing certain “survival pathways” to remain switched on

  • Llamas’ antibodies to aid bioterror fight

    A new system, which utilized antibodies found in llamas, detects seven types of botulinum neurotoxins simultaneously; the system uses antibodies from llamas; the llama antibodies, which are proteins made by the body to fight disease, are “nanobodies,” sometimes called single domain antibodies, and are molecularly flexible, unlike traditional antibodies; the new method could lead to increased protection of food and water supplies against bioterror attacks

  • Ebola, Marburg vaccines undergoing tests in South Africa

    Because Ebola and Marburg have been confined to Africa and outbreaks limited, drug companies have not had a financial incentive to come up with a vaccine; only the threat of bioterrorism has prompted the U.S. government to spend millions on vaccine research

  • Texas foundation wins contract to assist in fight against bioterrorism

    Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research receives first installment of $456,216 of a $2.2 million contract to do research on Ebola and Marburg viruses, which could be used as potential bioterror weapons

  • U.S. post Office to deliver antidote in case of anthrax attack

    President Obama signed an executive order instructing the Post Office to deliver antidotes to citizens in the event of an anthrax attack; the executive order calls for armed escorts to accompany delivery personnel

  • OSU president Burns Hargis defends anthrax research cancellation decision

    Hargis had ended an anthrax vaccine research project at OSU because it would have resulted in euthanizing baboons; he says he did not bow to pressures from animal rights activists – or from the wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, both OSU alumni and major donors to the school.

  • Potent new biodefense technology shows promise

    Medizone International’s AsepticSure technology continues to break the “6 log” decontamination barriers, this time with two very different spore forming bacteria, Claustridium difficile and Bacillis subtilis

  • Oklahoma State rejects anthrax study over euthanasia of primates

    The U.S. National Institutes of Health wanted OSU to conduct research on treatment for anthrax; the study involves baboons, which must be destroyed after anthrax exposure to ensure they do not infect others; In April, OSU announced that animals will no longer be euthanized in teaching labs at the veterinary school; measure was the result of pressure by Madeleine Pickens, the wife of billionaire benefactor and OSU alumnus T. Boone Pickens

  • Experts call for changes in U.S. vaccine creation process

    The current U.S. vaccine-manufacturing plan was developed prior to the cold war, and has never been updated; currently, the United States grows its vaccines in eggs over the course of six to eight months, and as there has been no real financial incentive to upgrade the vaccine making process, pharmaceutical manufacturers have instead focused on more profitable medications rather than vaccines