Warp Speed Adviser Slaoui Will Stay as Consultant to Biden Team

(Bloomberg) -- Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the U.S. Operation Warp Speed effort to develop Covid-19 vaccines, will stay on as a consultant to the incoming Biden administration, he said Wednesday.

“I have been asked to become a consultant after the time comes when the transition happens, which I have accepted,” Slaoui said on a call with reporters.

Slaoui, a longtime pharmaceutical executive, had previously said he would consider returning to the private sector after two vaccines and two therapies were available. Operation Warp Speed has achieved that goal with vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. authorized for emergency use, along with antibody therapies available to treat Covid-19 cases.

Another Warp Speed leader, U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, said he has not been informed one way or another whether he would stay on. “I’m here until my part of the mission’s done or I’m told otherwise,” said Perna, a logistics expert.

President-Elect Joe Biden has pledged a more robust federal role in responding to Covid-19 and distributing vaccines when his administration begins on Jan. 20.

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