Biotech Venture Capitalist Picked to Run U.K. Vaccine Taskforce

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K. government has appointed biotech venture capitalist Kate Bingham to chair a taskforce that will coordinate efforts to find a viable vaccine for Covid-19 and make it widely available to the public.

Bingham will step back from her role as managing partner of SV Health Investors to take on the position, and will report directly to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the government said on Saturday.

The U.K. has committed £250 million ($303 million) to find a vaccine for the virus, and the taskforce will coordinate development efforts already underway across government, industry and academia.

The appointment comes as world leaders struggle to balance the need to motivate drug discovery while making sure that the benefits aren’t available only to those who pay the most. The World Health Organization wants to ensure broad access by asking pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily donate their Covid-related intellectual property to a common global pool.

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