Coronavirus Attacks the Lungs. A Federal Agency Just Halted Funding for New Lung Treatments.
Source: New York Times
Coronavirus Attacks the Lungs. A Federal Agency Just Halted Funding for New Lung Treatments.
The shift, quietly disclosed on a government website, highlights how the Trump administration is favoring development of vaccines over treatments for the sickest patients.
By Katie Thomas
June 19, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
When the coronavirus kills, it attacks the lungs, filling them with fluid and robbing the body of oxygen. In chest X-rays, clear lungs turn white, a sign of how dangerously sick patients are.
But earlier this month, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a federal health agency, abruptly notified companies and researchers that it was halting funding for treatments for this severe form of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
The new policy highlights how staunchly the Trump administration has placed its bet on vaccines as the way to return American society and the economy to normal in a presidential election year. BARDA has pledged more than $2.2 billion in deals with five vaccine manufacturers for the coronavirus, compared with about $359 million toward potential Covid-19 treatments.
But the shift in strategy also shows that the administration is backing away from the relatively modest funding it has provided so far for treatments that address the severe lung ailments, while continuing support for antiviral therapies that could treat people earlier in the course of the disease.
The decision to suspend investment in lung treatments blindsided academic researchers and executives at small biotech companies, who said they spent months pitching their proposals to BARDA, which is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/health/coronavirus-lung-treatment-funding.html
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