When a philanthropist as prominent in medical innovation as Michael Milken advocates for the creation of a government agency, we should take notice (“Covid Is the 21st Century’s Sputnik,” op-ed, July 28). The private sector will always be the main engine for innovation. But that engine needs a catalyst to fire initially. Ideally, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) could be that initiator—assuming it can avoid the bureaucratic pitfalls that plague more established government agencies.
Image: A medical researcher takes inventory at the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Covington, La., May 10. PHOTO: KATHLEEN FLYNN/REUTERS
