From the New York Times, WASHINGTON — As the Biden administration tries to stanch yet another wave of the coronavirus pandemic, senior White House officials have also been considering a proposal to ensure the nation is better prepared for the next infectious disease outbreak.

Key to the plan is the creation of a taxpayer-funded “vaccine hub” where experienced drug makers would partner with the government, reliably churning out millions of doses under federal oversight.

The proposal is partly a response to a searing failure by a once obscure Maryland biotech firm, Emergent BioSolutions. While Pfizer and Moderna had spectacular success producing vaccines, the government entrusted the manufacturing of two of the other leading candidates to Emergent, which was forced to toss tens of millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and to quit producing the AstraZeneca vaccine because of serious quality problems that ultimately led the Biden administration to cancel its contract.

The government’s partnership with Emergent, which cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade, was supposed to be a pillar of the nation’s pandemic preparedness. Instead, it proved to be the culmination of 30 years of frustrations.

Three times over the past three decades, presidential administrations explored plans for a vaccine overhaul like the one President Biden is now considering, only to be thwarted by pharmaceutical lobbying, political jockeying and cost concerns, a New York Times investigation found.

In each case, the nation was left ill prepared for the next crisis — while creating a vacuum that Emergent eagerly filled.

“The reason why Emergent got so many contracts is mostly because they were the only ones willing to do the work,” said Dr. Kenneth Bernard, a top biodefense adviser to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

To reconstruct the forgotten history that led to the debacle at Emergent’s Baltimore plant this year, The Times reviewed thousands of pages of records — among them files from presidential and military archives, previously undisclosed government reports, industry correspondence and business plans.

Reporters also interviewed more than 30 people who have helped shape U.S. biodefense policy, including officials from five presidential administrations, corporate executives and industry consultants.

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