An investment firm directed by Hunter Biden played a significant role in financially supporting a pandemic tracking and response company that collaborated on bird flu research in Ukrainian laboratories, with funding from the Obama administration’s Department of Defense.
Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP), a subsidiary of Rosemont Capital founded by Hunter Biden and Christopher Heinz, listed Metabiota in its portfolio. Metabiota, a San Francisco-based company focused on detecting and analyzing emerging infectious diseases, was supported by RSTP in its first round of funding in 2015, amounting to $30 million. Neil Callahan, a former managing director and co-founder of RSTP, and Rob Walker, a former Clinton official, both appeared on Hunter Biden’s hard drive and were involved with Metabiota.
In an exclusive report for The National Pulse in March 2022, a connection was established between Metabiota and biological laboratories in Ukraine, which were flagged for handling “especially dangerous pathogens” with U.S. government funding. Recently, it was revealed that much of Metabiota’s work in these labs focused on avian influenza. Internal documents and government contracts detailed the involvement of Metabiota and the U.S. Department of Defense in these efforts, with Metabiota receiving an $18.4 million grant from the department in 2014.
A 2016 Annual Report from the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine recounted a trilateral meeting with Ukraine, Poland, and U.S. officials discussing biological security and surveillance, including avian influenza. Representatives from Metabiota and the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency were in attendance, alongside other officials and researchers.
Nathan Wolfe, the founder of Metabiota, has extensively discussed bird flu in the media, including writing for CNN and participating in interviews with the World Economic Forum. Wolfe highlighted the threat of bird flu and Metabiota's work in monitoring influenza viruses globally.
Metabiota researchers have authored numerous studies on avian influenza, including a 2016–2017 study on H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in Ukraine, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Other research by Metabiota staff has focused on influenza viruses among wild birds and poultry, underscoring the company's extensive involvement in avian influenza research.
