Description
Much of the infrastructure developed to support biosecurity efforts is focused on mobilizing the insights that the life sciences can provide into the development of new medicines and medical countermeasures. A particular focus has emerged in which the macro-structures within states, markets and international institutions have been utilized to manipulate and intervene in life at a molecular scale. Key material infrastructures including universities, hospitals, laboratories and research funding bodies are also now key to biosecurity efforts that emphasize the role of private industry in the translation of scientific insights into new medical defenses. This presentation investigates the post-COVID biosecurity environment in the US in relation to the lessons learned from Operation Warp Speed. Previous US biodefence activities were focused on developing medical countermeasures to be stockpiled and used “just in case” of an emergency involving a specific pathogen. Lessons from COVID-19 and the Warp Speed Operation have instigated efforts that seek to develop medical countermeasures “just in time” to respond to an emerging pathogen threat. This paper will investigate the proposed infrastructural changes that must be implemented in order to carry out this approach including centralized capability leadership and realigned public–private partnerships.
