Federal funding ban lifted for pathogen research

NIH said a three-year long federal pause on funding for gain of function (GOF) research on pathogens has been lifted. The green light came after HHS published a framework Tuesday to guide agency funding decisions on research proposals to create, transfer or use enhanced potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs).

The framework, which was a condition for the lifting of the ban, requires that research proposals involving pathogens that meet the definition of enhanced PPP be first evaluated by an independent panel of experts to assess safety, benefits and risks, and ethics before being considered by HHS. An enhanced PPP is defined as a likely highly transmissible and virulent pathogen with enhanced transmissibility and/or virulence...