Baric Transcribed Interview (Redacted) — page 107

DC.Scheduling@LexitasLegal.com MS. SALAZAR: So did you find out about it for the first time on September -- DR. BARIC: That was when DRASTIC sort of released it. MS. SALAZAR: Was it DRASTIC, or someone released it, but I think it was September 2021. DR. BARIC: That might true, correct. MS. SALAZAR: So up until that point, you had no discussions about the DIFFUSE proposal. DR. BARIC: Not that I'm aware of. I was busy on other things. MS. SALAZAR: There were other people on that grant, so Peter Daszak. DR. BARIC: Yes, he would have been there. MS. SALAZAR: But he never raised it. To me it's odd that you wouldn't recall that. DR. BARIC: If he would've raised it, I would've remembered it then, because he would've put it in context. MS. SALAZAR: And he would've told you, right. DR. BARIC: Yeah. I think you have to think about where the focus of the research community was. My focuses, at the time, were to rapidly develop mouse models so that we could test mRNA-LNP-based vaccines against SARS-2, to work with Gilead to get their drug forward into clinical trials, to get molnupiravir, a second drug that was FDA approved for use in humans, into clinical trials.