Pharmaceutical companies lobbied to ‘water down’ rules on Covid vaccine access
Lobbying from pharmaceutical companies to European officials led to the “watering down” of a radical proposal on vaccine access, an investigation by Politico and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.
India and Brazil led calls for a waiver on intellectual properties to potentially give poorer countries better vaccine access. Although supported by America, the European Union, including Ireland, took a firm stance against the Trips Waiver.
“Germany was a huge driving force behind the EU’s stance — its total opposition to a waiver was consistently backed by countries including Ireland, Sweden, and Denmark at the trade policy committee,” it is stated in the piece.
“These three countries also house significant pharmaceutical industries: Ireland is the largest net exporter in the EU of pharmaceutical products.”
Investigators quote an adviser to the Belgian prime minister recounting a 2021 conversation with a Janssen spokesperson.
“They said, ‘If Belgium is supporting this, the [J&J] headquarters in New Jersey are going to be agitated and they might consider reviewing the R&D [research and development] budget,’” the adviser told Politico and the Bureau,” the publication states.
The same adviser told the investigators: “Is that a direct threat? I don’t know.”
Lobbying led to a chilling effect on support for the waiver.
“Colombian officials in Geneva, for instance, were told by their government to withhold support for the waiver to avoid disrupting vaccine negotiations with Pfizer and others, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations,” the investigation states.
The findings rely on interviews with diplomats, officials, lobbyists, and activists, as well as analysis of meetings and internal documents.
“In the EU during 2021, Covid vaccine and treatment developers including Pfizer and Moderna and the largest pharma lobbying groups, including the EFPIA, spent at least €15m on lobbying,” the investigation found, an increase from €13.9m in 2019.
In addition, they found at least 31 private consultancies were employed to lobby the commission on the industry’s behalf.
A Pfizer spokesperson is quoted as categorically denying any country’s position in relation to the waiver was connected to vaccine negotiations.
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