Biden Administration Launches $5B Program To Boost Development Of Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine, Treatments - AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX)

The White House plans to devote $5 billion to develop effective treatments and vaccines against current and future Covid variants, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson and a Biden administration official said.
The investment, "Project NextGen," first announced by White House and HHS officials in an interview with the Washington Post, is expected to be launched shortly as a sequel to the Trump Administration's 'Operation Warp Speed.'
It will focus on creating long-lasting monoclonal antibodies resistant to new COVID-19 variants and broader vaccines that can protect against several coronaviruses.
Also Read: Biden Signs COVID-19 Bill To Declassify Intelligence On Pandemic Origins.
The project also seeks to speed up the development of vaccines that produce mucosal immunity and can be administered through the nose, hoping to reduce infection and transmission rates.
The agency shifted funds intended for coronavirus testing and other priorities.
'It's been very clear to us that the market on this is moving very slowly,' Dr. Ashish Jhan, the White House's Covid response coordinator, told the Washington Post.
'There's a lot that government can do, the administration can do, to speed up those tools … for the American people,' he said.
Photo by Johaehn from Pixabay