Does anyone have quick access to an article about the man who claimed

[Baitball Blogger]

that they were ready to do human trials with a coronavirus test back in 2016, but when they looked for money and support from the Trump Administration there was a lack of interest? No one would release money for it?

[TubbersUK]

1. NBC: "Scientists were close to a coronavirus vaccine years ago. Then the money dried up."

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/scientists-were-close-coronavirus-vaccine-years-ago-then-money-dried-n1150091

[Baitball Blogger]

2. He claims the money dried up in 2016. Would that mean it happened during the Obama

Administration? And could the money problem be due to ebola, SARS and Zika?

[TubbersUK]

4. Don't know - but I did notice that he's been trying again & having the same problem in recent weeks:

For weeks, Hotez has been reaching out to pharmaceutical companies and federal scientific agencies — and even the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom — asking them to provide the roughly $3 million needed to begin testing the vaccine's safety in humans, but so far none have done so.

"We've had some conversations with big pharma companies in recent weeks about our vaccine, and literally one said, 'Well, we're holding back to see if this thing comes back year after year,'" Hotez said.

He said he hopes the seriousness of the outbreak leads to reforms in how the federal government funds vaccine development, although he notes that he called for similar changes after the SARS and Ebola outbreaks.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Is Hoetz American or British?

Why is he going to the UK if he's American?

From what I could get from his testimony to Congress, the interest was in SARs. And if he was talking about the Obama Administration, they had their hands full with ebola and Zika. So, what he said about nobody was interested in the coronavirus vaccine, would make sense.

[LisaL]

7. He works in Houston.

"Vaccine researcher Peter Hotez, based in Houston, is one of the world’s leading experts on contagious disease. For the last two weeks, we’ve been checking in with him, asking what Houstonians need to know about the coronavirus and the fight against it."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/renew-houston/health/article/New-meds-new-fears-Houston-coronavirus-update-15142822.php

[Celerity]

8. he is American

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hotez

Early life and education

Hotez was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He received a BA in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry magna cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa) from Yale University in 1980, a PhD from Rockefeller University in 1986, and a Doctorate in Medicine from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1987. His doctoral dissertation and postdoctoral training were in the areas of hookworm molecular pathogenesis and vaccine development.

[Celerity]

9. It was during the time Obama was POTUS, but the money dried up due to PRIVATE for profit

pharmaceutical companies not want to roll the dice on a drug that will cost 10's of millions to develop yet may never be used.

[Andy823]

3. The whole president thing

was a way for trump to scam money from the taxpayers to help keep his failing business's from going under. He is making millions from his golf trips, he has the RNC paying him money for all kinds of things, and he has no interest in all at helping the people of this country. It's all about him, and always has been.

[Thirties Child]

6. The Orange Psychopath strikes again

[Baitball Blogger]

10. I'm not sure that Hotez was persistent enough to ask help from the Trump Administration.

It seems like his quest for funds may have stopped in 2016, which would have been during the Obama Administration. It also sounds like he went looking for money from the private sector. Obama's Administration would have prioritized SARS, ebola and Zika. And it seems those three were the priority, which would explain why there was no interest for a coronavirus vaccine, even from the private sector. But I found nothing that shows he went asking for money from either Administration.