Inside STAT: Is BARDA ready to respond to a crisis like coronavirus?

A LAB TECHNICIAN BEGINS SEMI-AUTOMATED TESTING FOR COVID-19. (ANDREW THEODORAKIS/GETTY IMAGES)

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, was created for drug development projects and basic research that private industry doesn't pursue. In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, the tiny federal agency seemed so well-suited to answer the call for a vaccine that Congress awarded BARDA an additional $3.5 billion in funding. But some experts are concerned that BARDA may not be equipped to rise up to the sudden challenge and the additional workload that it's now facing. And even though previous emergencies including Zika and Ebola were setting the stage for the current outbreak, Covid-19 “is on another scale,” Chris Stanley, a consultant for companies hoping to get BARDA contracts, tells STAT's Nicholas Florko. Read more here.