Mission & Strategy

We research strategic solutions to safeguard powerful biotechnologies against misuse and prevent outbreaks from becoming catastrophic  pandemics. Then, we pool the capital of ambitious philanthropists to implement these solutions globally.

The Opportunity and Challenge

Harnessing technology and policy to pandemic-proof the world

From the Plague of Athens in 430 BCE to COVID-19, pandemics have caused devastating harm to human health and reshaped societies.


Today's breakthroughs in science, medicine, and technology offer unprecedented opportunities to make pandemics history once and for all. However, many novel technologies are double-edged, posing both profound societal benefits and also potential for misuse and accidents. 


Sentinel Bio exists to maximize the benefits of emerging technologies while ensuring they are deployed safely to create a pandemic-free world.

Mission

Catalytic philanthropy for transformative impact

We launched Sentinel Bio to make pandemics history within our lifetimes. To achieve this bold vision, we research and support strategic solutions that reduce risks from the misuse of biotechnologies and prevent outbreaks from becoming catastrophic pandemics. We continuously seek approaches that are severely neglected yet have the highest possible leverage across three mission areas:

Understanding the drivers and mitigants of 
catastrophic pandemics
Strengthening safeguards 
on advanced biotechnologies
Bolstering global pandemic preparedness

At the core of our strategic prioritization is a belief that governments, industries, and other philanthropies are severely under-prioritizing critical approaches to ensuring a world free from pandemics of any origin, whether zoonotic, accidentally- or deliberately released.

This pervasive neglect of crucial prevention measures presents us with an outstanding opportunity for transformative impact. With strategic investment and coordinated action, we can spark renewed commitment to pandemic prevention and better align global efforts with the greatest opportunities and risks.

The herculean task of preventing all future pandemics extends far beyond our direct resources. Recognizing this, we work as catalysts, market shapers, and lamp lighters, bringing in new resources and talent to put the world on track to making pandemics history in our lifetimes.

Strategy

Our current strategic priorities

Currently, we are concentrating on implementing targeted biosecurity safeguards to ensure responsible innovation for rapidly developing biotechnologies. Our ultimate goal is to enable society to reap the benefits of transformative biotechnology, while preventing reckless or malicious actors from turning biotechnology breakthroughs into man-made pandemics. 

We will work tirelessly with our partners until we have ensured:

  • that synthetic nucleic acids – the building blocks of engineered biology – are subject to rigorous ‘Know-Your-Order’ and ‘Know-Your-Customer’ governance
  • that frontier AI models are released with mechanisms that restrict capabilities to create extremely harmful biological agents

Looking to the future: reassessing our strategy continually 

Based on our extensive research, internal expertise, and expert networks, we believe that we are uniquely well-placed to address this narrow set of urgent priorities in the near term. However, we recognize that truly making pandemics history will require efforts beyond our current focus areas. As we successfully implement the highest-leverage approaches in our first priority areas and as the landscape of risks and opportunities evolves, we will continually reassess our strategy to avoid path dependencies and ensure that we’re focused on the highest-impact interventions. 

Independent, research-driven strategy

Our strategy is based solely on our assessment of how to have the most transformative impact on our mission. We continually revise our strategy in close consultation with our partners and advisers in government, industry, academia, and civil society. Our funders have no influence over our research or grantmaking, enabling us to maintain an uncompromising focus on achieving our strategic objectives (learn more about our funders here.)

Strategic Overview

Current Strategic Priorities
Building a durable ecosystem
Mission Area
Outcomes
Ultimate Impact
Understanding the drivers and mitigants of catastrophic pandemics
Risk and mitigation assessment: Decision-makers globally share a clear, rigorous understanding of the critical factors driving and mitigating catastrophic pandemic risk
Global resource allocation is rebalanced to ensure self-sustaining pandemics prevention efforts that matches the risks
Strengthening safeguards on advanced biotechnologies
Governance of synthetic nucleic acids: All biotechnologies and materials posing significant dual-use risks, such as synthetic nucleic acids, are subject to rigorous Know-Your Customer and Know-Your-Order governance
Safeguards on AI-Bio: All frontier AI models are released with governance mechanisms that restrict capabilities to create catastrophically harmful biological agents or weapons.
Research biosecurity and biosafety: High-consequence pathogen research is subject to rigorous biosecurity oversight and standards for biosafety performance and transparency
Biological weapons disarmament: All nation states face strong disincentives to develop biological weapons and strong incentives to drive disarmament and transparency around bioweapons
In our lifetime, no malicious or reckless actors use advanced biotechnologies to create and release pandemic pathogens
Bolstering global pandemic preparedness
Technological countermeasures: Governments are capable of using technological countermeasures, such as PPE, to effectively mitigate a catastrophic pandemic
Pandemic response policy: Governments have institutions & plans to dramatically outperform Covid-19 responses
Early-warning surveillance: All hotspots for pandemic emergence are monitored by early-warning systems that are sensitive, credible, and globally connected.
When an outbreak hits, millions of lives are saved by policies & tech that contain its spread before becoming a global catastrophe