Gates-backed startup raises $26 million for climate vaccines
Climate vaccine developer ArkeaBio has raised $26.5 million in Series A funding, the company announced last week. ArkeaBio aims to fight climate change by vaccinating livestock.
Suppressing methane emissions
A vaccine being developed by the company is designed to prevent animals from releasing methane emissions. Once vaccinated with the AkreaBio shot, an animal’s immune system is supposed to create antibodies that will target methane-producing microbes.
The Boston-based startup secured its first major investment in late 2022 from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investment fund founded by billionaire Bill Gates.
“Our vaccination-based approach allows for much-needed decarbonization of global meat and dairy products across multiple geographies, supporting greater sustainability in agriculture,” the company explains on its website.
Pharma industry eyes climate vaccines for humans
While ArkeaBio hopes to deploy the vaccines worldwide for livestock, it has not yet announced plans to develop climate vaccines for humans.
But human-targeted climate vaccines do appear to be in the works. Researchers at Gingko Bioworks, a biotech firm also backed by Gates, have floated mRNA injections as a measure to mitigate the impact of global warming. The World Economic Forum has also expressed support for climate vaccines.
The biggest push, however, is coming from the pharmaceutical industry, as vaccine makers claim vaccines are a “critical response to the climate crisis.” In December, pharmaceutical giant GSK wrote on its website that “[i]n the face of climate change, vaccines play a crucial but underestimated role.”
AstraZeneca last year declared climate change to be a public health crisis, sparking concerns that the pharma industry may play a role in climate mandates. The declaration came two months after drugmaker Sanofi’s Executive Vice President of Vaccines Thomas Triomphe penned an article titled “Vaccine innovation is a critical response to the climate crisis.”
Climate vaccines required for vaccine passports?
Pharma industry chatter about climate vaccines comes as the World Health Organization (WHO), which has warned of an impending climate pandemic, is developing global vaccine passports. If climate vaccines for people are developed, the WHO could demand that the vaccine passports display a person's climate vaccine status together with other so-called “immunizations.”
A status showing that passport holder one is not up to date on any scheduled vaccine could lead to the denial of that person's right to travel between nations or even within a nation.
Efficient system … for denying travel rights
In June last year, the WHO announced the launch of its “digital health partnership” with the European Commission. The joint program will involve the development of global vaccine passports among other “digital products to deliver better health for all.”
According to the WHO, the passport system will allow “global mobility” and protect people not only from “future health threats” but those that are “on-going”.
“In June 2023, WHO will take up the European Union (EU) system of digital COVID-19 certification to establish a global system that will help facilitate global mobility and protect citizens across the world from on-going and future health threats, including pandemics,” announced the WHO in a statement.
The globalist organization clarified that this will likely include a global vaccine passport, much like many Western countries used during the COVID-19 pandemic:
This partnership will work to technically develop the WHO system with a staged approach to cover additional use cases, which may include, for example, the digitisation of the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis. Expanding such digital solutions will be essential to deliver better health for citizens across the globe.
As a “first step”, the WHO and European Commission will “ensure that the current EU digital certificates continue to function effectively.”
