8 ms·
P3: Pandemic Prevention Platform (2017)
- ngcc_hk 7y agoI wonder who on earth will use chlorine in ww1 or bio... it kills both sides. Just crazy thinking but is this why they are military research. If you can protect from icbm ... It is horrible. If you let this onto china, they can invent a wuhan virus, with these tool to protect their solider or potentially ransom The world then release not accidentally but deliberately the virus. Just like they got the patent for the anti-viral drug. Crazy.
- boltzmannbrain 7y agoBueller?... Bueller?...
- thefounder 7y agoEveryone stay calm now; we have a Coronavirus Shield!
- pacificmint 7y agoNote that neither the article nor the headline mention a "Coronavirus shield". That's just the HN headline. In fact, the article never even mentions the Coronavirus at all. The article headline is "Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3)" Mods, maybe change it to that?
- hdivider 7y agoGood point. Changed it. Got the DARPA press release title confused with the popular mechanics article. :) Thanks.
- hdivider 7y agoMore detail: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/03/us-military-scientists-hope-have-coronavirus-therapeutic-summer/163659/ https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/03/us-military-sc... https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a31405691/darpa-covid-19-coronavirus/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a31405691...
- ASalazarMX 7y agoThank you. Since the publication isn't even dated, it could have been written 30 years ago because it's only buzzword soup. Example: > A principal benefit of the nucleic-acid-based approach to limiting the spread of infection is that genetic constructs introduced into the body would process quickly and not integrate into an individual’s genome. Similarly, the antibodies produced in response to treatment would only be present in the body for weeks to months. This is consistent with DARPA's intent to safely deliver transient immunity, halting the spread of disease by creating a firewall, and buying time for longer-term medical responses to be developed and deployed.
- dang 7y agohttps://web.archive.org/web/20170411172941/https://www.darpa.mil/program/pandemic-prevention-platform https://web.archive.org/web/20170411172941/https://www.darpa... exists, so we can go back at least to 2017 above.
- DrAwdeOccarim 7y agoSure, the understanding of what to do we had 30 years ago, but the technical challenges were only recently overcome (Science, then Engineering).
- titzer 7y agoI think what they are describing is literally called a vaccine.
- m3kw9 7y agoIt all sounds good but I’m not sure if they could do all that in 60 days with human trials needed to test actual efficiency, toxicity, etc. If you are talking about just a candidate drug yeah, that is possible with today’s tech.
- casefields 7y agoThey are 2 for 2 already: >The teams have proven they can meet this ambitious timeline in previous trials using the influenza and Zika viruses.
- m3kw9 7y agoWhat happened to 3? This virus
- dvirsky 7y agoAnother story about this, sounds remarkable: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/darpas-firebreak-treatment-for-the-coronavirus https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/da...
- vharuck 7y agoI don't remember hearing anything about the US military being involved in the recent Ebola outbreak, so is this an existing program or a proposal?
- casefields 7y agoThis article says there are currently 4 P3 teams: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/darpas-firebreak-treatment-for-the-coronavirus https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/da...
- afarrell 7y agoUS Marines and Army troops were sent to Liberia during the Ebola outbreak. https://news.usni.org/2014/10/08/100-marines-liberia-thursday-part-u-s-ebola-response https://news.usni.org/2014/10/08/100-marines-liberia-thursda...
- closeparen 7y agoThe military (Fort Detrick and USAMRIID in particular) is a huge part of the virology community. Civilian academics in the field interact with it regularly.
- ChristianGeek 7y agoRead “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston. Great book about the origins of Ebola that culminates in an outbreak in Reston, VA that was primarily handled by the military. (The only reason you haven’t heard more about his particular outbreak is that it turned out to be a strain that only affected monkeys (450 at a scientific research holding facility in this case). https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385479565 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385479565
- crime 7y agoThis explains it better: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a31405691/darpa-covid-19-coronavirus/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a31405691...
- fraud 7y agoyeah, this is crazy... starting to get out of hand
- matmann2001 7y agoCan someone translate this from tactical to English?
- m0zg 7y ago"We've got bupkis".
- killjoywashere 7y agoWe had decades of smart thinking about this, and forsaw the need 3 years ago based on Ebola. Things are now in trial, so if it's 2020 and you're reading this, sorry, the funding is already committed. Better luck next time. Keep your ear to ground and move faster.
- m0zg 7y agoI wish I could share your optimism, but after watching the congressional testimony I think we're pretty fucked. I think we should just shut down the CDC and FDA (when this is over), and start from scratch with an agency focused on addressing epidemics and pandemics, as well as quick drug approvals. The incompetence is pretty obvious and staggering, and as per Fauci's testimony, the CDC is not designed for the crisis we are now experiencing. That is, to unpack this, the Center for Disease Control is not designed for disease control. He's clearly a formidable scientist, but it's also clear that mismanagement at the agencies is pretty rampant. They were asked point blank several times why we still can't test even the frontline medical staff, and they did not have an answer. This is 100% thoroughly fucked up beyond repair.
- gridspy 7y agoIt was indeed agonising at the start, but they had a very clear answer by the end. The CDC makes reagents that are required. But the full test requires taking swabs, going to a lab, going through various steps. It's not self contained like a pregnancy test. So the CDC spokesperson was uncertain because the CDC is providing the reagents but the labs are literally just coming online. I am referring to this video. The exchange I am thinking about is roughly 40 minutes in but I couldn't find it quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO-_aV-v7IA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO-_aV-v7IA
- _tfi1 7y agoSo this has already been tested in humans: https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-phase-1-results-first-systemic https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-d... "Antibody level predicted to protect against chikungunya infection achieved within hours; projected to be maintained for at least 16 weeks at the middle and high doses"
- OceanSunfish 7y agoThese briefs don't mention it by name, but this technology seems like "DNA Vaccination" that has been in research for some years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_vaccination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_vaccination
- DrAwdeOccarim 7y agoThis isn't vaccination, it's coding and expression of the antibody(s) your body would take weeks/months to make from a vaccination that neutralize the pathogenic target from dosing. It's a stop-gap to prevent infection, but does not offer memory response from resident B-cells/plasma cells.
- wespiser_2018 7y agoDisease prevention has been in DARPAs wheelhouse for a while now. While in grad school, a couple groups at my school worked on a project to predict the future evolution of influenza, so the vaccine order in March will be relevant to the strains dominate in November. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2016-06-13a https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2016-06-13a The last time I heard an update, it was that prediction was very difficult as unpredictable random mutation was dominating strain evolution.
- DrScientist 7y agoAs the military often go to 'exotic' places, they are have long been at the forefront of wanting to treat 'tropical' diseases. Also with the military setup - lots of people living together in barracks - infectious diseases have a high risk of spreading rapidly.
- Alex_P13 7y agoTop 10 font icons for web designer and developers I will tell about some “font icons” and also I will share with you some best and latest font icon with you. Font Icons are one of the most main parts of any graphical UI (User interface) and also for web designers, developers. https://www.electronthemes.com/top-10-font-icons-for-web-designer-and-developers/ https://www.electronthemes.com/top-10-font-icons-for-web-des... #Top10FontIcons #BestFontIcons #BestFont #ElectronThemes
- pts_ 7y agoMilitarized gene therapy.
- Animats 7y agoActual request for proposals: [1] This was much more than a study. The winners had to be able to construct antibodies for five viruses. Trying to find more info. Hard; "fbo.gov" has been moved to "sam.gov", for no obvious reason, and the older documents lost. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20170710035550/https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=2235783b6b12551d4847c321b5c1307b https://web.archive.org/web/20170710035550/https://www.fbo.g...
- brrrrr1 7y agoWith all due respect - does anyone believe the US army can deal with a pandemic? I mean you cant just shoot a huge number of weapons and kill it. That army hasn’t even been able to win wars against tribes, how can it win against a virus? I get it, there is a lot of PR surrounding it, but a pandemic is a real issue that requires science not dumb muscle. Somehow I believe the US and its army are the opposite of a solution to such an issue.
- bluGill 7y agoFor many years it has been a worry of any competent military that the enemy is going to release a bio-weapon. As such every army is be preparing for something. They won't know what exactly is coming, but they have processes in place to deal with it as best they can. That means supplies in place, and people training in using them - it might mean a generic gas mask instead of a N95 filter, but it will get the job done. The army is also well trained in securing an area. Need to enforce no travel, the army learns that in basic training. Again, this isn't about the US army, it is about any competent military in the current world. Limited of course by their budget.
- brrrrr1 7y agoSee, competent governments dont need the army for medical supplies. Also it appears the US army is not prepared at all. Lack of tests, late response, a commander in chief ignorant of the problem. The US army is indeed prepared for securing an area that i am sure of. Pointing weapons is not particularly difficult. Perhaps it is time to reflect over what is marketing and what is real about the army? I hope i am wrong but from where i stand the us army is sheer numbers of people and bullets and loads and loads of pr.
- microcolonel 7y agoWell, if you know so much about preventing the spread of infectious disease, quit whining on HN and do something productive for a change. DARPA has advanced needs, which is why they develop advanced technology. Most people do not think of needing the things that the military needs, because most people's lives are not as challenging as a soldier's.
- DrScientist 7y agoEssentially you go from recovering patient to 20,000 therapeutic doses in 60-90 days. Note it is not a vaccine - a vaccine is something like part of a virus that then drives an immune response ( body evolves antibodies against it ) - here you are taking an antibody sequence you know works and directly putting that in the body and genetically programming the body to make it. Here's how: - find and clone the patients own antibody that allowed them to recover. - deliver that antibody in nucleic acid form to new patients so they can make the antibody themselves. The idea is to be able to produce enough doses quickly enough to protect front line staff in the containment phase. As the antibody has already been discovered by the recovering patient, you can use single cell screening and cloning to retrieve the particular antibody gene. The second step avoids many many months of building and scaling a protein manufacturing process ( though manufacturing steps still exist ). It's a new technology and so carries some unknowns - but in the case of pandemic then you could argue these are justified. There has already been a proof of principal run through and a number of companies were able to deliver proof of concepts within the timescale. The next question is how well these work in people.
- _tfi1 7y agoIt works well in humans: https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-phase-1-results-first-systemic https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-d... Main finding was at the high dose, there were some adverse events but no serious adverse events, and they all self-resolved without intervention. At the lower doses (0.3 and 0.1mpk), it still provided months of protection against infection assuming the "protective level" is accurate.
- DrScientist 7y agoYep - it can work. However, normally there is a long and potentially winding road between a phase 1, through phases II & III to a successful market launch.
- _tfi1 7y agoYes, of course, but when one signs up for the military they can inject you with whatever they want. The FDA does not get involved. Combine that with an EUA, and all of a sudden you are injecting them and the nat sec apparatus 6 months from now if things get bad. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/01/31/Military-allowed-to-administer-unapproved-drugs/8455665298000/ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/01/31/Military-allowed-to-... https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/pdf/2018-Influenza-Guidance.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/pdf/2018-Influenz...
- terrislinenbach 7y agoThat's working well