In multiple countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has reached one of its bleakest points yet.
In early January, Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked whether he believed the United States should back C-TAP.Biden appears more enthusiastic than his predecessor about aiding in the global delivery of vaccines, signing the U.S. on to the initiative known as COVAX, which collects and distributes available vaccines as equitably as possible.
Alternatively, C-TAP would set up tech hubs around the world, where selected manufacturers would gain the start-to-finish production know-how. The vaccine companies would maintain more control over the scale-up than they would through the proposed intellectual property waivers and allow them to collect royalties.
But the vaccine companies are wary of handing over their trade secrets to any WHO-designated manufacturer, preferring instead to enter into licensing agreements with a more limited number of production facilities they choose. The NYU researchers, along with Barney Graham, an NIH scientist behind the spike protein technique, havethe White House could bring those levers to bear, effectively forcing companies to share their approach with the rest of the world.