Pandemic Cost NIH $16 Billion in Delayed, Lost Medical Research

The National Institutes of Health delayed and lost approximately $16 billion worth of research due to the pandemic, the agency told Bloomberg Law.

That amount constitutes more than a third of the NIH’s current spending level of $42.9 billion. It’s a $6 billion increase from the amount agency director Francis S. Collins estimated last May when he told a Senate panel the pandemic will cost about $10 billion.

Anthony S. Fauci told the same Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Thursday the pandemic has affected the NIH’s ability to do research in areas other than Covid-19.

“I would ...