SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A lab technician sorts blood samples for Covid-19 vaccination study at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida on August 13, 2020. (Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
'Like the Wolf Saying He'll Guard the Henhouse': Big Pharma CEO Insists Industry Can Police Itself on Covid Vaccine
"The public needs to be able to trust that decisions for the vaccine development process are being based on science and public health, and drug company self-policing simply isn't good enough."
Sep 01, 2020
Amid growing concerns that the Trump administration is moving to bypass normal and crucial safety protocols in a rush to approve a Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the November election, the CEO of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. is insisting that the American public can trust the for-profit drug industry to police itself when it comes to developing a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.
In an interview with Axios that aired Monday night, Eli Lilly chairman and CEO David Ricks said the pharmaceutical industry is "not going to make something or we're not going to sell it until we've proven to our own standards it's safe and effective, subjected it to scientific scrutiny from the outside world"--a promise one watchdog group dismissed as "like the wolf saying he'll guard the henhouse."
"The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins."
--Eli Zupnick, Accountable Pharma
"The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins," Eli Zupnick, spokesperson for Accountable Pharma, said in a statement. "The public needs to be able to trust that decisions for the vaccine development process are being based on science and public health, and drug company self-policing simply isn't good enough."
Ricks, who is also the chairman-elect of PhRMA--a massive pharmaceutical lobbying group--said it would indeed be "very concerning" if drug companies were making decisions about potential Covid-19 treatments and vaccines based on "non-medical or scientific" considerations. But Ricks denied that's the case, even as public health experts are warning that the Trump White House is actively skirting safety regulations and politicizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for electoral purposes.
"I think our industry has an interest in preserving that as an objective process," said Ricks, whose company is currently working with--and receiving funding from--the federal government as the pharma giant runs a Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential coronavirus treatment.
Ricks' remarks come days after FDA chief Stephen Hahn told the Financial Times that his agency would be willing to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine even prior to the completion of Phase 3 clinical trials--but insisted that it would not do so solely to appease the president.
As Common Dreams reported Monday, Hahn's comments drew swift backlash from scientists and public health experts. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York, tweeted that "we absolutely cannot tolerate or accept an emergency authorization for any Covid-19 vaccine without reliable safety and efficacy data from Phase 3 clinical trials."
Bypassing established safety procedures in the interest of speed, warned Rasmussen, "would place huge numbers of people at risk for massive potential harm."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Amid growing concerns that the Trump administration is moving to bypass normal and crucial safety protocols in a rush to approve a Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the November election, the CEO of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. is insisting that the American public can trust the for-profit drug industry to police itself when it comes to developing a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.
In an interview with Axios that aired Monday night, Eli Lilly chairman and CEO David Ricks said the pharmaceutical industry is "not going to make something or we're not going to sell it until we've proven to our own standards it's safe and effective, subjected it to scientific scrutiny from the outside world"--a promise one watchdog group dismissed as "like the wolf saying he'll guard the henhouse."
"The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins."
--Eli Zupnick, Accountable Pharma
"The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins," Eli Zupnick, spokesperson for Accountable Pharma, said in a statement. "The public needs to be able to trust that decisions for the vaccine development process are being based on science and public health, and drug company self-policing simply isn't good enough."
Ricks, who is also the chairman-elect of PhRMA--a massive pharmaceutical lobbying group--said it would indeed be "very concerning" if drug companies were making decisions about potential Covid-19 treatments and vaccines based on "non-medical or scientific" considerations. But Ricks denied that's the case, even as public health experts are warning that the Trump White House is actively skirting safety regulations and politicizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for electoral purposes.
"I think our industry has an interest in preserving that as an objective process," said Ricks, whose company is currently working with--and receiving funding from--the federal government as the pharma giant runs a Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential coronavirus treatment.
Ricks' remarks come days after FDA chief Stephen Hahn told the Financial Times that his agency would be willing to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine even prior to the completion of Phase 3 clinical trials--but insisted that it would not do so solely to appease the president.
As Common Dreams reported Monday, Hahn's comments drew swift backlash from scientists and public health experts. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York, tweeted that "we absolutely cannot tolerate or accept an emergency authorization for any Covid-19 vaccine without reliable safety and efficacy data from Phase 3 clinical trials."
Bypassing established safety procedures in the interest of speed, warned Rasmussen, "would place huge numbers of people at risk for massive potential harm."
Amid growing concerns that the Trump administration is moving to bypass normal and crucial safety protocols in a rush to approve a Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the November election, the CEO of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. is insisting that the American public can trust the for-profit drug industry to police itself when it comes to developing a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.
In an interview with Axios that aired Monday night, Eli Lilly chairman and CEO David Ricks said the pharmaceutical industry is "not going to make something or we're not going to sell it until we've proven to our own standards it's safe and effective, subjected it to scientific scrutiny from the outside world"--a promise one watchdog group dismissed as "like the wolf saying he'll guard the henhouse."
"The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins."
--Eli Zupnick, Accountable Pharma
"The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins," Eli Zupnick, spokesperson for Accountable Pharma, said in a statement. "The public needs to be able to trust that decisions for the vaccine development process are being based on science and public health, and drug company self-policing simply isn't good enough."
Ricks, who is also the chairman-elect of PhRMA--a massive pharmaceutical lobbying group--said it would indeed be "very concerning" if drug companies were making decisions about potential Covid-19 treatments and vaccines based on "non-medical or scientific" considerations. But Ricks denied that's the case, even as public health experts are warning that the Trump White House is actively skirting safety regulations and politicizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for electoral purposes.
"I think our industry has an interest in preserving that as an objective process," said Ricks, whose company is currently working with--and receiving funding from--the federal government as the pharma giant runs a Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential coronavirus treatment.
Ricks' remarks come days after FDA chief Stephen Hahn told the Financial Times that his agency would be willing to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine even prior to the completion of Phase 3 clinical trials--but insisted that it would not do so solely to appease the president.
As Common Dreams reported Monday, Hahn's comments drew swift backlash from scientists and public health experts. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York, tweeted that "we absolutely cannot tolerate or accept an emergency authorization for any Covid-19 vaccine without reliable safety and efficacy data from Phase 3 clinical trials."
Bypassing established safety procedures in the interest of speed, warned Rasmussen, "would place huge numbers of people at risk for massive potential harm."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.