As US di­als up coro­n­avirus re­sponse, BIO taps Vir's George Scan­gos to head com­mit­tee co­or­di­nat­ing in­dus­try ef­forts

With two coro­n­avirus deaths record­ed on US turf, or­ga­ni­za­tions around the coun­try are di­al­ing their re­sponse to a pos­si­ble epi­dem­ic.

BIO, the biotech trade group, has ap­point­ed­ed its own coro­n­avirus czar — George Scan­gos of Vir Biotech­nol­o­gy — to co­or­di­nate the in­dus­try’s re­sponse, Reuters re­port­ed late Fri­day. Scan­gos, best known for his stint as Bio­gen CEO, and his in­fec­tious dis­ease start­up were one of the first to jump in­to the hunt for a treat­ment against Covid-19.

Scan­gos will lead an ad hoc com­mit­tee aimed at fa­cil­i­tat­ing ther­a­peu­tic, vac­cine and di­ag­nos­tics de­vel­op­ment and, to the ex­tent pos­si­ble, avoid du­pli­ca­tion of ef­forts, BIO spokesper­son Rich Mas­ters told End­points News. Pre­cise func­tions are still be­ing ex­plored and will like­ly change over time.

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