Pandemic Readiness Lobby Draws In Biotech, Government Members

Drug and biotechnology firms, academics, investors and former government officials are launching a new lobbying group that hopes to improve long-term support for technology and products to combat future pandemics and other biological threats. Initial members of the group include Roche Holding AG’s Genentech unit, Flagship Pioneering Inc., Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc., Siga Technologies Inc., Coherus Biosciences Inc., ImmunityBio Inc., IGM Biosciences Inc., Texas A&M University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The group, which will be called the Medical Countermeasures Coalition, or MC2, says it hopes to create sustained investment and a better market for pandemic preparations, which have often fallen victim to what is known as the cycle of “panic and neglect” following emergencies