The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it is looking into a preprint study that was carried out at Boston University that created a “chimeric” COVID-19 variant that killed 80 percent of lab mice.
“The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, did not review nor issue awards for experiments described in a pre-print article on SARS-CoV-2 research at Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL),” NIH told news outlets this week.
The statement added that the “NIH is examining the matter to determine whether the research conducted was subject to the NIH Grants Policy Statement or met the criteria for review under the HHS [Health and Human Services] Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens (HHS P3CO Framework).” It came after an NIAID official, Emily Erbelding, told Stat News that her agency should have been informed about the research before it was carried out. She claimed that Boston University did not disclose the exact nature of the study when it applied for a grant.