Photograph by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
The novel coronavirus has the world firmly in its grip. Images from northern Italy, Madrid, and New York City have shown that the threat of the virus should not be underestimated. Tens of thousands of people have died because of it. Most countries now face a dilemma: If drastic shutdowns continue, serious economic and social problems will arise, but going back to normal life is very dangerous and will risk tens of thousands of additional deaths. The final return to normalcy will be possible only if there is a vaccine or an effective medicine against Covid-19.
The European Union is on the front line of developing this vaccine. Some companies and laboratories that cooperate with experts from other parts of the world are already conducting human clinical trials. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen led a worldwide virtual summit on cooperation in this area.
While public and private stakeholders from all over the world—including Israel, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and China—pledged more than $8 billion, unfortunately no United States government official participated.
We are grateful that private stakeholders, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, indicated that U.S. citizens are ready to cooperate with the rest of the world. Even though the United Kingdom has left the European Union, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rightly said, “We are in this together.” I hope that the absence of the U.S. government wasn’t an indication that President Donald Trump thinks he should not cooperate.
I was born in an economically prosperous and free West Germany. I have experienced firsthand how the world can change for the better due to strong cooperation by the free world. I really hope that cooperation and solidarity will lead to the development and distribution of a vaccine or a therapy. The U.S. administration must join this international effort.
If Europe is first in developing a vaccine, we are ready to share our knowledge with the rest of the world and to make the vaccine available to all those in need, as soon as possible. We expect the same from the United States. If, however, Trump applies his “America first” principle and excludes non-U.S. citizens from the benefits of a drug or a vaccine, Europe is not unprepared.
Under the legislation of most European countries, compulsory licensing is possible. That means that European companies can produce pharmaceuticals even without approval of the owner or its government. In trade issues, Europe has shown that we are not ready to accept unfair practices. When Trump threatened the EU with excessive taxes on European cars, then–European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker went to the White House with a list of products that we could tax, most of them produced in swing states in which Trump had a narrow majority in the 2016 election. That led to an immediate agreement between the U.S. and the EU.
Nobody in the current administration should think that the health of our citizens and the possibility of overcoming the major economic problem linked to the coronavirus are less important to Europe than the European car industry. We are for cooperation and dialogue, but we also have a plan B.
Peter Liese is a German physician and member of the European Parliament. He is the health spokesperson for the European People’s Party.
Coronavirus Sanofi: French drug giant rows back after vaccine storm
BBC 14 May 2020
The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi has rowed back on an apparent promise to prioritise the US market with any potential Covid-19 vaccine.
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson sparked a row by saying the US government had "the right to the largest pre-order because it's invested in taking the risk".
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe responded by saying access for all was "non-negotiable".
Sanofi's chairman has now vowed equal access for everyone.
"I am going to be extremely clear: there will be no particular advance for any country," Serge Weinberg told France 2 TV.
He said Mr Hudson's words had been distorted.
Prime Minister Philippe said he had spoken to Mr Weinberg and received "all the necessary assurance regarding the distribution of an eventual Sanofi vaccine".
President Emmanuel Macron said that recent efforts had proved a vaccine should not be subject to market forces and he is due to meet top Sanofi officials next week.
The EU insisted that all countries should get equal access to a vaccine. "The vaccine against Covid-19 should be a global public good and its access needs to be equitable and universal," said European Commission spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker, quoted by AFP news agency.
Why is the issue so delicate for Sanofi?
The deadly coronavirus pandemic has made the search for a Covid-19 vaccine the top priority for labs worldwide, with intense pressure to speed up a process that usually take years to develop.
Earlier this month the EU chaired a global online summit to boost coronavirus research, and secured pledges of $8bn (£6.5bn) from some 40 countries and donors. The funding is aimed at developing a coronavirus vaccine and treatments for Covid-19.
The UK co-hosted the summit but the US and Russia did not take part.
Sanofi's Covid-19 vaccine research is partly funded by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) but in recent years Sanofi received tens of millions of euros in tax credits from the French government to help its research.
Mr Hudson's remarks in a Bloomberg interview provoked uproar among politicians on the right and left in France. The Socialists estimated that Sanofi had received some €150m (£133m; $162m) in research tax credit and millions more in other tax credit.
Sanofi's chief in France, Olivier Bogillot, said the goal was to have a vaccine "available to the US as well as France and Europe at the same time".
But speaking on French news channel BFMTV, he said this would only be possible "if Europeans work as quickly as the Americans", and added that the US government had pledged to spend "several hundreds of millions of euros".
The row was reminiscent of reports in March of a US attempt to buy German biotech firm CureVac, which has also been researching a possible vaccine. CureVac insisted there had been no US attempt to buy the firm or its manufacturing capacity.
Last month Sanofi also teamed up with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to work on a vaccine, though trials have not yet started.
The novel coronavirus has the world firmly in its grip. Images from northern Italy, Madrid, and New York City have shown that the threat of the virus should not be underestimated. Tens of thousands of people have died because of it. Most countries now face a dilemma: If drastic shutdowns continue, serious economic and social problems will arise, but going back to normal life is very dangerous and will risk tens of thousands of additional deaths. The final return to normalcy will be possible only if there is a vaccine or an effective medicine against Covid-19.
The European Union is on the front line of developing this vaccine. Some companies and laboratories that cooperate with experts from other parts of the world are already conducting human clinical trials. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen led a worldwide virtual summit on cooperation in this area.
While public and private stakeholders from all over the world—including Israel, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and China—pledged more than $8 billion, unfortunately no United States government official participated.
We are grateful that private stakeholders, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, indicated that U.S. citizens are ready to cooperate with the rest of the world. Even though the United Kingdom has left the European Union, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rightly said, “We are in this together.” I hope that the absence of the U.S. government wasn’t an indication that President Donald Trump thinks he should not cooperate.
I was born in an economically prosperous and free West Germany. I have experienced firsthand how the world can change for the better due to strong cooperation by the free world. I really hope that cooperation and solidarity will lead to the development and distribution of a vaccine or a therapy. The U.S. administration must join this international effort.
If Europe is first in developing a vaccine, we are ready to share our knowledge with the rest of the world and to make the vaccine available to all those in need, as soon as possible. We expect the same from the United States. If, however, Trump applies his “America first” principle and excludes non-U.S. citizens from the benefits of a drug or a vaccine, Europe is not unprepared.
Under the legislation of most European countries, compulsory licensing is possible. That means that European companies can produce pharmaceuticals even without approval of the owner or its government. In trade issues, Europe has shown that we are not ready to accept unfair practices. When Trump threatened the EU with excessive taxes on European cars, then–European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker went to the White House with a list of products that we could tax, most of them produced in swing states in which Trump had a narrow majority in the 2016 election. That led to an immediate agreement between the U.S. and the EU.
Nobody in the current administration should think that the health of our citizens and the possibility of overcoming the major economic problem linked to the coronavirus are less important to Europe than the European car industry. We are for cooperation and dialogue, but we also have a plan B.
Peter Liese is a German physician and member of the European Parliament. He is the health spokesperson for the European People’s Party.
Coronavirus Sanofi: French drug giant rows back after vaccine storm
BBC 14 May 2020
REUTERS
Sanofi's HQ is in Paris and the firm has received French state tax breaks
The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi has rowed back on an apparent promise to prioritise the US market with any potential Covid-19 vaccine.
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson sparked a row by saying the US government had "the right to the largest pre-order because it's invested in taking the risk".
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe responded by saying access for all was "non-negotiable".
Sanofi's chairman has now vowed equal access for everyone.
"I am going to be extremely clear: there will be no particular advance for any country," Serge Weinberg told France 2 TV.
He said Mr Hudson's words had been distorted.
Prime Minister Philippe said he had spoken to Mr Weinberg and received "all the necessary assurance regarding the distribution of an eventual Sanofi vaccine".
President Emmanuel Macron said that recent efforts had proved a vaccine should not be subject to market forces and he is due to meet top Sanofi officials next week.
The EU insisted that all countries should get equal access to a vaccine. "The vaccine against Covid-19 should be a global public good and its access needs to be equitable and universal," said European Commission spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker, quoted by AFP news agency.
Why is the issue so delicate for Sanofi?
The deadly coronavirus pandemic has made the search for a Covid-19 vaccine the top priority for labs worldwide, with intense pressure to speed up a process that usually take years to develop.
Earlier this month the EU chaired a global online summit to boost coronavirus research, and secured pledges of $8bn (£6.5bn) from some 40 countries and donors. The funding is aimed at developing a coronavirus vaccine and treatments for Covid-19.
The UK co-hosted the summit but the US and Russia did not take part.
Sanofi's Covid-19 vaccine research is partly funded by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) but in recent years Sanofi received tens of millions of euros in tax credits from the French government to help its research.
Mr Hudson's remarks in a Bloomberg interview provoked uproar among politicians on the right and left in France. The Socialists estimated that Sanofi had received some €150m (£133m; $162m) in research tax credit and millions more in other tax credit.
Sanofi's chief in France, Olivier Bogillot, said the goal was to have a vaccine "available to the US as well as France and Europe at the same time".
But speaking on French news channel BFMTV, he said this would only be possible "if Europeans work as quickly as the Americans", and added that the US government had pledged to spend "several hundreds of millions of euros".
The row was reminiscent of reports in March of a US attempt to buy German biotech firm CureVac, which has also been researching a possible vaccine. CureVac insisted there had been no US attempt to buy the firm or its manufacturing capacity.
Last month Sanofi also teamed up with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to work on a vaccine, though trials have not yet started.
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