WASHINGTON — It seems like an agency tailor-made for a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, was created to invest in drug development projects that private industry wouldn’t touch, such as anthrax vaccines and therapies for Ebola, Zika, or swine flu. Lawmakers were so confident that BARDA…

A vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 illness that has killed nearly 63,000 worldwide through Sunday, is the ultimate defense. But the development time for a vaccine, even one hastened through testing, will likely be measured in years, and could take longer to distribute to enough people to have a benefit. So public…

The need for innovative solutions to address shortages in crucial medical equipment is greater than ever, and a new initiative from a global team of biomedical engineering experts is a perfect example. The team developed a way for resuscitation bags – common pieces of equipment carried by ambulances and paramedics around the world, and typically…

Health care professionals battling the coronavirus now face a second front in the war — cyberattacks — that threaten to disrupt operations and broadcast disinformation. Cyberattacks against health care agencies have skyrocketed in the past decade, with almost 70% of the population affected by a data breach through the theft of personal information and health…

The portable device wouldn’t replace hospital-grade ventilators but could be a stopgap measure for some COVID-19 patients. WASHINGTON — Xerox, known for making copies, is set to announce Monday that it will be “rapidly scaling up” production of inexpensive, disposable ventilators that could serve as a critical stopgap for hospital-grade ventilators now in short supply…

The $2 trillion federal coronavirus aid package signed into law that includes $100 billion for nonprofit hospitals won’t completely cover the revenue hospitals will lose as a result of the pandemic, Moody’s Investors Service wrote in an April 3 note. While the aid package includes several provisions like compensation for lost revenue, increased Medicare reimbursement…

Facebook is launching new tools that use anonymized location data collected from users to show whether people are adhering to social distancing measures designed to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.  The company said on Monday that its Data for Good program is developing Disease Prevention Maps, which show how people are moving around regions. Facebook hopes…

At least 20 states across the U.S. are trying to prevent hoarding of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, the antimalarial drugs touted by the president as “game changers” in the U.S. response to COVID-19, The Wall Street Journal reported.  The drugs have both been in shortage since early to mid-March, and supply was strained further after the president talked about…

(CNN) – The next two weeks will be crucial in the United States’ fight against the coronavirus, warn health officials, who are urging Americans to continue practicing social-distancing measures. Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the US surgeon general, likened the coming week to a Pearl Harbor or 9/11 moment, saying on “Fox News Sunday” it would…