With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world came to recognize the importance of maintaining a national stockpile of biologics (for example, vaccines) and, if possible, possessing domestic capabilities to produce the biologics required to fight the spread of communicable diseases. In South America, Colombia and Chile at one point possessed robust vaccine production capabilities but abandoned them decades ago.1 Although some within these countries called for a renewal of their vaccine production capabilities, the calls went unheard—that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world weathered the pandemic and countries scrambled to secure the vaccines needed to combat it, Colombia and Chile decided they would return to producing biologics domestically as well as double down on their already-active biotechnology policies that had been designed to encourage public-private partnerships and attract foreign investments.
Publication Information
Sin, Steve S. 2024. “Emerging Biotechnology Capacity and Emerging Biosecurity Threats in Colombia and Chile.” In Emerging Technologies and Terrorism: An American Perspective, eds. Susan Sim, Eric Hartunian, and Paul J Milas. Carlisle, PA: US Army War College Press.