From weak contracts, lack of anti-profiteering provisions, and initial failures of vaccine distribution, the Trump Administration is leaving a mess for incoming Biden team to clean up

Washington, DC – Today, Accountable Pharma released the following statement on reports that the European Commission had secured lower prices for COVID-19 vaccines than the Trump Administration, despite the fact that the vaccines were heavily subsidized with U.S. federal grants, research support, and purchase guarantees. This latest revelation of the Trump Administration’s refusal to take on the drug companies in any meaningful way comes as their Operation Warp Speed vaccine distribution efforts got off to a rocky start, with a top leader already saying that he “failed” in his initial communications with states regarding vaccine supply. 

“This is another harsh reminder that the pharma-friendly Trump Administration shoveled billions of taxpayer dollars into the coffers of the drug companies and either couldn’t or wouldn’t negotiate the kind of lower prices that other countries were able to secure for their citizens,” said Eli Zupnick, spokesman for Accountable Pharma. “President Trump talked a big game when it came to reducing prescription drug prices, but his administration never actually did anything to hurt the bottom lines of the drug companies that so many of them came from and almost certainly plan to return to. The incoming Biden Administration should review these contracts and do everything possible to renegotiate a better deal for American patients and taxpayers – and they have a whole lot of work to do to clean up Trump’s messes and restore public trust in the vaccine development and distribution process.”

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