The idea was to provide medicines preventing or treating COVID-19 at a low cost or free of charge, the British university said. That made sense to people seeking change. The coronavirus was raging. Many agreed that traditional vaccine development, characterized by long lead times, manufacturing monopolies and weak investment, was broken.

"We actually thought they were going to do that," James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, a nonprofit that works to expand access to medical technology, said of Oxford's pledge. "Why wouldn't people agree to let everyone have access to the best vaccines possible?"

A few weeks later, Oxford--urged on by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation--reversed course. It signed an exclusive vaccine deal with AstraZeneca that gave the pharmaceutical giant sole rights and no guarantee of low prices--with the less-publicized potential for Oxford to eventually make millions from the deal and win plenty of prestige.