Press Releases
BREAKING: Newly Exposed Trump Administration Vaccine Contracts Reveal Massive Giveaway to Drug Companies
KEI: “While heavily redacted, the contracts shed considerable light on the extent to which the federal government has limited or eliminated altogether its rights”
Axios: Trump Administration waters down, eliminates “powerful tool to intervene in cases where pharmaceutical companies charge high prices or don’t produce enough of a product”
FLASHBACK: Trump Administration had refused to release drug company contracts
Washington, DC – Today, Patients Over Pharma reacted to the blockbuster news that significant portions of the contracts between the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and major drug companies have been obtained by Knowledge Ecology International and that their analysis reveals a significant giveaway to drug companies and weakening of the government’s ability to ensure that any vaccine developed is affordable and accessible to every American.
“Well, now we know why the Trump Administration has been so secretive about these contracts: They didn’t want people to know how much they’ve given away to the drug companies and how little they got in return for the billions of taxpayer dollars being invested,” said Eli Zupnick, spokesman for Patients Over Pharma. “This should be a wakeup call to Congress that we need real transparency at Operation Warp Speed and that we can’t leave it to the former drug company executives leading it to fight for the best possible deal for American patients and taxpayers.”
Following reporting that the HHS refused to confirm whether the Trump Administration secured any assurances regarding vaccine pricing from drug companies receiving the over $2 billion in federal vaccine development investments, Patients Over Pharma filed Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking the details of any vaccine development-related contracts between drug companies and HHS, including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
Last week Patients Over Pharma reiterated its call for transparency from the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine and treatment development program to ensure that political pressure isn’t once again impacting the government’s COVID-19 response efforts.
Last month, Patients Over Pharma called on Congress to mandate that an independent patient advocate be appointed to audit and provide continued oversight of the Trump Administration’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development program.
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