Internationally, the Biological Weapons Convention prohibits “assisting others in acquiring biological weapons”, although it explicitly encourages “the fullest possible exchange of information” in Article X. Nations could invoke Article VI’s procedures for alleged violations to determine whether the latter includes giving tens of thousands of individuals access to agents permitting them to kill millions single-handedly, but given the expansiveness of Article X and the lack of verification measures, it would be more effective to forge a new agreement narrowly targeting the identification and associated proliferation of pandemic-class agents.
