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MedImmune accepts $15.6 billion buy-out offer
AstraZeneca outbids Merck and others to get its hands on the FluMist vaccine
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TB victim receives TV
Facing a life of civil commitment, Russian-born Arizonan earns his creature comforts
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General Dynamics Canada wins Canadian bio-sensor contract
After six years of succesful naval deployments, government will buy CAN$30 million worth of GDC’s VP Bio Sentry systems
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Biotech industry set to break flu vaccine production record
Officials say industry will produce 132 million doses, with both Sanofi and MedImmune ramping up production capacity
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FDA approves first bird flu vaccine
Government has been stockpiling Sanofi Pasteur’s vaccine for some time, but now it can be distributed without signed consent; concerns remain about efficacy
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Digital angel buys Chemring's McMurdo
$7.5 million deal expected to pay dividends in 2009 when COSPAS-SARSAT equipment is replaced
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NIH awards $23 million for six new influzena research centers
Federal government gets serious by expanding the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance program
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VaxGen tries to regroup
After HHS cancels its $877 million anthrax vaccine, company looks to merge or partner with others
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Protein Sciences tests caterpillar-based flu vaccine
New approach to vaccine development relies on insect cells rather than bird eggs; method offers improved speed and safety
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MedImmune to explore buy-out options
Board of directors reacts to heightened interest from Big Pharma and growing shareholder disatisfication
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New technology turns A and B blood to O
A fresh approach to an old concept, ZymeQuest tests a machine capable of treating eight units in ninety minutes
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DoE tests Isonics's aerosol bio-decontamination system
Company receives $1 million in funding to perfect technology; tests come as Isonics faces delisting from Nasdaq
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Florida may reject federal flu assistance
Leading state legislator says discounted Tamiflu and Relenza are not “one of my priorities”; public health experts call proposol shortsighted and uneconomical
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Researchers overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Newly-discovered peptide works wonders against Staph and VRE; as approach does not directly act on bacteria, researchers say resistance is unlikely
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Smiths Detection wins two major DoD contracts
Chemical detection units earn $19 million for this industry heavyweight; Air Force spends $4.5 million on advanced hazmat identification equipment
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The long view
What We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Combatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Measles was supposedly eradicated in Canada more than a quarter century ago. But today, measles is surging. The cause of this resurgence is declining vaccination rates.
Social Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
The persuasive power of social networks is immense, but not limitless. Vaccine preferences, based on the COVID experience in the United States, proved quite insensitive to persuasion, even through friendship networks.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“Tulsi Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief Would Undermine Efforts Against the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons”: Expert
The Senate, along party lines, last week confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence. One expert on biological and chemical weapons says that Gabbard’s “longstanding history of parroting Russian propaganda talking points, unfounded claims about Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and conspiracy theories all in efforts to undermine the quality of the community she now leads” make her confirmation a “national security malpractice.”