Bioterrorism Week articles from October 2004

Bioterrorism Week archives from October 2004

Bacillus anthracis identified by multiprobe microarray hybridization.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have developed a multiprobe microarray hybridization assay to identify Bacillus anthracis. "We have developed a rapid assay based on microarray analysis of amplified genetic markers for...

In vitro-based potency assay for anthrax vaccine developed.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have developed an in vitro-based potency assay for anthrax vaccines. According to recent research published in the journal Vaccine, "The potency assay currently used to evaluate...

Biopharm firm plans to develop radioprotective agents against nuclear terrorism.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vyrex Corporation (VYRX) is proceeding with plans to use its antioxidant and prodrug technologies to develop radioprotective agents against nuclear/radiologic terrorism. The first such agent,...

Novel route to an anti-ricin vaccine reported.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Insertional mutagenesis of ricin A chain leads to a novel route toward an anti-ricin vaccine. According to recent research from England, "The insertion of a specific 25-residue internal peptide...

Agent-based analysis of smallpox preparedness performed.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have performed an agent-based analysis of smallpox preparedness and response policy. According to recent research published in the JASSS - the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social...

Connecticut to get $13 million to train for attack response.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The federal government will give Connecticut $13 million for training, equipment and supplies needed to respond to a bioterrorist attack. The money will be given to the state Department of Public...

Study finds few health effects on dogs exposed to September 11 terrorist sites.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Search-and-rescue dogs deployed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks suffered cuts and scrapes but no serious short-term effects from exposure to the disaster sites, according to research by the University...

Ivy Tech, Indiana University to coordinate biotechnology programs.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Students at Ivy Tech State College will be able to earn a two-year degree in biotechology and transfer into a four-year program at Indiana University under an agreement between the two schools. ...

Study predicts human damages from Indian Point nuclear plant terror attack.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study released finds that the potential health consequences of a successful terrorist attack on the Indian Point nuclear plant could cause as many as 518,000 long-term deaths from cancer and as many...

Bioscience company launches IDSecure DNA identity service.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Orchid BioSciences, Inc., (NASDAQ:ORCH) announced the launch of its IDSecure service designed to ensure that workers on high-risk assignments can be accurately identified in the event of an emergency or...

Virginia State Health Department gets $20 million.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Virginia State Department of Health received a federal grant of nearly $20 million September 14, 2004, to improve the public health infrastructure and the system's ability to respond to...

NIH biodefense contract aims to unlock proteomes of salmonella, pox.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has received a $10.3 million biodefense contract from the U.S. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Agents (NIAID) to identify the proteins that regulate...

FDA clears IND for an attenuated smallpox vaccine candidate.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc., (VXGN.PK) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared an investigational new drug (IND) application for the company's candidate smallpox vaccine, LC16m8. ...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway needed for vaccinia growth.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The vaccinia virus-stimulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is required for virus multiplication. According to a study from Brazil, "Early events play a decisive role in virus...

Murine model of pulmonary anthrax described.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers describe the kinetics of dissemination, histopathology, and mouse strain susceptibility of a murine model of pulmonary anthrax in a recent issue of Infection and Immunity. "Bioweapons...

Scientists find nanowires capable of detecting individual viruses.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Harvard University scientists have found that ultra-thin silicon wires can be used to electrically detect the presence of single viruses, in real time, with near-perfect selectivity. These...

Genome diversity of Francisella tularensis populations in U.S. reported.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have determined the genome diversity among regional populations of Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis and Francisella tularensis subspecies holarctica isolated in the U.S. ...

Scientists decipher genetic code of biothreat pathogen.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 2400 years after Hippocrates first described the symptoms of glanders, scientists have deciphered the genetic code of the ancient pathogen that causes the horse disease: Burkholderia mallei....

A13 phosphoprotein required for assembly of mature vaccinia virions.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A13 phosphoprotein is required for assembly of mature vaccinia virus virions. "The 70-amino-acid A13L protein is a component of the vaccinia virus membrane. We demonstrate here that the protein is...

DNA-based anthrax vaccine generates antibodies in rabbits in challenge study.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vical Incorporated (VICL) announced that peer-reviewed data from the company's anthrax vaccine challenge study in rabbits were published in the September 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National...

NuCycle Therapy and United States Navy to develop oral anthrax vaccine.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Integrated BioPharma Inc (INB) announced that NuCycle Therapy Inc, a wholly owned biotech subsidiary of INB, has entered into a research and development agreement with the United States Navy to carry...

Technology awards with focus on anti-terror research includes BioCheck kit maker.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT) announced the latest award winners for technologies that are intended to serve both the Department of Defense and the Department of...

Company gets $5.2M from NIH for continued development of Ricin vaccine.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DOR BioPharma, Inc., (DOR) has been awarded a $5.2 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for further...

Bacterial genomics company secures defense research grant.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- SIGA Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ:SIGA) announced that it has been designated as a prime contractor by the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General's office to create systems for the rational development of...

Company develops new protective suits for military, first responders.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DuPont (DD) announced promising research in the fight against terrorism with the development of protective materials that are resistant to chemical and biological agents. The suits are targeted...

Puerto Rico Department of Health orders decontamination and bioisolation systems.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- TVI Corporation (OTCBB:TVIN) announced that The Puerto Rico Department of Health has placed a $1.7 million order for TVI mass decontamination and bioisolation systems. The order, processed by...

Terror strike could overwhelm response, conference attendees say.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The September 11, 2001 attacks and last year's SARS outbreak in Toronto show how vulnerable emergency health systems are to a large-scale terror attack, participants at a terror trauma conference were...

Senate committee approves funding for new U.S. CDC lab in Colorado.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Senate committee has authorized $44.4 million to finish construction of a new Fort Collins laboratory for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Construction of the lab,...

CCAT awards EFP grant to begin nano-enhanced filter media test for U.S. military.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Emergency Filtration Products, Inc., (EFP)(EMFP) announced that it has been awarded a prototype development/testing/evaluation grant (PDT&E) to develop a testing protocol for filter media on behalf of...

Researcher provide update on B. pseudomallei, "the great mimicker".
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- For a doctor it is all about signs - the clues to a disease lie in how the patient feels, where it hurts, and what is affected. For many diseases, diagnosis can be swift and sure. But what...

NIH grant awarded for development of nasally delivered plague vaccine.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ID Biomedical has been awarded up to $8 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a nasally delivered plague vaccine based upon the company's proprietary, intranasal,...

Should genome data be kept freely accessible?
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A newly published editorial discusses the benefits and potential risks of allowing genomic information to be freely available on the Internet - and supports the recent report by the U.S. National...

Guide helps communities prepare for vaccine and drug dispensing.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new planning guide funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is designed to help communities nationwide make sure that all Americans have needed drugs and vaccines in the event of...

Crucell, partner, announce PER.C6 licensing agreement.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vaxin, Inc., has entered into a license agreement with Dutch biotechnology company Crucell, NV, (CRXL). This nonexclusive license agreement allows Vaxin to use Crucell's PER.C6 cell line for the...

Demand for research instruments grows as government backs research, study shows.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New demand in the mature U.S. nucleic acid and liquid handling research instrumentation market is generated from government-funded areas such as food safety, disease prevention as well as bio-threat...

DNA vaccine protects mice against challenge anthrax STI spores.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DNA vaccination protected mice against challenge with Bacillus anthracis STI spores. According to published research from Germany, "Immune responses against the protective antigen (PA) of Bacillus...

Technology shows potential as countermeasure against bioterrorism.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new report by prominent biowarfare experts cites the technology of San Diego-based Aethlon Medical, Inc., (AEMD) as a new potential weapon in America's defenses against bioterrorism. The report,...

Scientists decipher genome of ancient pathogen used in biological weapons.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 2,400 years after Hippocrates first described the symptoms of glanders, scientists have deciphered the genetic code of the ancient pathogen that causes the horse disease: Burkholderia mallei....

Self-assembling nanotubes change colors, form "nanocarpet," even kill bacteria.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Pittsburgh researchers have synthesized a simple molecule that not only produces perfectly uniform, self-assembled nanotubes but creates what they report as the first "nanocarpet,"...

Canadian government expands support for counter-terrorism antidote.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nexia Biotechnologies, Inc., (NXB) and Defence R&D Canada - Suffield (DRDC Suffield), Alberta, announced the signing of a 3-year agreement to accelerate the development of Protexia, a biotech antidote...

Company gets contract for development of new vaccine adjuvants for biodefense.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc., announced it has been awarded a $16.9 million, 5-year contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 1 of the National Institutes of...

Reactive skin decontamination lotion available to U.S. first responder market.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- E-Z-EM, Inc., (AMEX:EZM) announced that under a new agreement recently completed between O'Dell Engineering and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), O'Dell and E-Z-EM will begin marketing reactive...

16S rRNA gene sequencing used for rapid identification of Brucella.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have used 16S rRNA gene sequencing for rapid confirmatory identification of Brucella isolates. According to a study from the United States, "Members of the genus Brucella are...

Environmental groups, biolab reach settlement agreement.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health has agreed to several safety, training and public information requirements to head off a lawsuit filed by three groups trying to halt construction of a Biosafety...

Consulting firm chosen to perform assessment of hospital information systems.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Phoenix Health Systems, Inc., has been chosen to perform a comprehensive onsite assessment of hospital information systems by the Utah Department of Health (UDOH), the central point of contact for all...

Companies to co-develop automated system to identify airborne pathogens.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MicroFluidic Systems Inc. (MFSI) and Quantum Magnetics, a subsidiary of InVision Technologies, Inc., (INVN), have signed a cooperation agreement to develop and produce an automated system to identify...

GTC Biotherapeutics grants license for Protexia.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc., (GTCB) and Nexia Biotechnologies, Inc., (NXB) announced they have signed an exclusive agreement for GTC to license its transgenic technology for Nexia to continue the...

Management of laboratory exposures to bioterrorism agents reported.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers report experience in the medical management of potential laboratory exposures to agents of bioterrorism on the basis of risk assessment at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of...

Defensive measures elucidated for agents of biological warfare.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Defensive measures are elucidated for agents of biological warfare. "Biological and chemical agents capable of producing serious illness or mortality have been used in biowarfare from ancient...

Management guide for lab exposure to bioterrorism agents released.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have released management guidelines for laboratory exposure to agents of bioterrorism. "Over the past several years, funding for biodefense research has increased dramatically, leading...

Emergency plans needed in event of bioterrorism or natural epidemic.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Emergency preparedness plans are needed in the event an act of bioterrorism or a natural epidemic occurs. According to investigators writing in the journal Archives of Physical Medicine and...

Vaccinia virus and complement protein interaction kinetics described.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have performed a kinetic analysis of the interactions between vaccinia virus complement control protein and human complement proteins C3b and C4b. "The vaccinia virus complement control...

Company announces extension of negotiations for HHS anthrax contract award.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc. (VXGN.PK) announced an extension of negotiations with the U.S. government regarding a potential contract for the purchase of the company's anthrax vaccine. In a letter to VaxGen dated...

Companies to develop commercial version of Lidar and ThraxVac technologies.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Circle Group Holdings (CXN) has entered into an agreement with Gassman Engineers, Inc., and Meridian Mechanical Corp. to develop a commercial version of its Lidar and ThraxVac technologies, which were...

Device company receives $1.4M order from U.S. Air Force for analyzers.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BioVeris Corporation (BIOV) announced that the U.S. Air Force, Air Combat Command has placed a $1.4 million order to purchase the company's new M-Series M1M Analyzers for use in the detection of...

Los Angeles County implements THINQ for bioterrorism response training.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- THINQ Learning Solutions, Inc., announced that the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LADHS) of California has implemented its THINQ TrainingServer Learning Management System (LMS) for...

Biometric firm secures series A financing.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Retica Systems, Inc., (Retica) and Sigma Partners, LLC, recently closed a $2.5M series A financing to fund the final development of a retinal biometric system, designed for use in a variety of Homeland...

Study shows biotech's impact on New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biotech and pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania employ 81,000 people and indirectly support another 390,000 jobs, according to an industry-funded study. The biopharmaceutical...

Surface sampling/QPCR analysis effective for decontamination strategy evaluation.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Surface sampling and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis is effective for the evaluation of decontamination strategies. "The efficacy of currently available decontamination strategies...

Genomics and proteomics selected Bruker Daltonics Inc. as strategic partner.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ProteoGenix Inc. has selected Bruker Daltonics Inc. as a strategic partner for the development of high-throughput protein biomarker discovery and mass spectrometry based multi-analyte assay platform....

Company to test new plant-produced anthrax vaccine on Navy.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania company is hoping that a vaccine for anthrax could be lurking in spinach, petunias or Swiss chard. NuCycle Therapy Inc., based in Kennett Square, is working...

Carrington sub gets $6M biodefense grant to develop nasal flu vaccine.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Carrington Laboratories, Inc., (CARN) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, DelSite Biotechnologies, Inc., has been awarded a $6 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and...

U.S. government funding awarded to Australian firm for new influenza drug.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biota Holdings Limited announced that the U.S. government, via the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), had awarded...

Dell to install computers at CDC's Marcus Emergency Operations Center.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The [U.S.] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will install 229 Dell (DELL) computers in its new Marcus Emergency Operations Center (EOC), scheduled to open in the fall of 2005. The...

Genentech receives subpoena on Rituxan.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biotechnology company Genentech Inc. received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania requesting documents related to the promotion of its Rituxan drug,...

Burkholderia pseudomallei secretion mutant had attenuated virulence.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Burkholderia pseudomallei bsa type III secretion mutant exhibited attenuated virulence in murine models of melioidosis. "Melioidosis is a severe infectious disease of animals and humans caused...

Real-time assay to detect monkeypox virus in rodents developed.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have developed a method to detect monkeypox virus in rodents using real-time 3'-minor groove binder TaqMan assays on the Roche LightCycler. "During the summer of 2003, an outbreak of...

Neumune improves survival in non-human primates after radiation exposure.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (HEPH) released data from a pilot study indicating that non-human primates treated with Neumune (HE2100) after exposure to a high dose of radiation experienced an...

NIH grant awarded to develop stem cells for biodefense applications.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc., announced that it has been awarded a 2-year, $800,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)...

Biotechnology company announces research and development agreement with USAMRIID.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Morphotek Inc. has signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland,...

CDN $3.6M grant awarded from NIH for development of diarrhea treatment.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Active Pass Pharmaceuticals announced receipt of a grant of CDN $3.6 million (U.S. $2.8 million) for development of a novel treatment for secretory diarrhea. The award was made by the National...

Major NIH contract awarded for smallpox genomics research.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vaccine researchers at Mayo Clinic have been awarded a $10 million federal contract to study genetic susceptibility to smallpox and genomic-based risks to the smallpox vaccine. "This award...

Research team develops nonhuman primate model of smallpox infection.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have made significant progress in developing an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease, which will be necessary for testing of future vaccines and potential...

Scientists help bring study of smallpox virus into "molecular age".
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In one of two companion studies, David A. Relman, MD, associate professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, and his colleagues identify a number of distinctive...

Second U.S. contract awarded for smallpox vaccine.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. government has awarded international biopharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic a 3-year contract valued at a total of more than $141 million to further develop and manufacture 500,000 doses of...