Opinion: Pandemics wreak devastation — but spark biomedical innovation
There are no “silver linings” in the dark cloud of Covid-19. Yet if history repeats itself, substantial biomedical innovation will emerge from this pandemic, as necessity fosters innovation.
During World War II, the invention of deep-tank fermentation propelled the production of pharmaceutical-grade penicillin from 80 million units per month in 1942 to 650 billion units per month in 1945. This innovation had a huge impact on saving lives: At the end of World War I, the death rate due to bacterial pneumonia was 18%; by the end of World War II it was less than 1%.
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