Categories
Publications

Covid-19 vaccines and treatments: we must have raw data, now – BMJ

In the pages of The BMJ a decade ago, in the middle of a different pandemic, it came to light that governments around the world had spent billions stockpiling antivirals for influenza that had not been shown to reduce the risk of complications, hospital admissions, or death. The majority of trials that underpinned regulatory approval and government stockpiling of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) were sponsored by the manufacturer; most were unpublished, those that were published were ghostwritten by writers paid by the manufacturer, the people listed as principal authors lacked access to the raw data, and academics who requested access to the data for independent analysis were denied.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220120011239/https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o102

Categories
News

More pandemic profiteers: COVID-19 vaccines have minted at least NINE new pharma billionaires – and their combined wealth is enough to buy shots for 780 MILLION people in low-income nations – Daily Mail

Nine executives from Moderna, BioNTech, ROVI and CanSino Biologics have all become billionaires throughout the pandemic 

Together they are now worth $19.3 billion – a combined net wealth greater than what it would cost to vaccinate the world’s poorest nations 

The list was compiled by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a campaign group that includes Oxfam, UNAIDS, Global Justice Now and Amnesty International 

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel is now worth a whopping $4.3 billion after his company was granted emergency use authorization in the US in December

CEO and co-founder of BioNTech Ugur Sahin is close behind with a wealth of $4 billion, following its collaboration on a vaccine with Pfizer

Senior executives from CanSino Biologics have also become billionaires after it developed a one-shot vaccine that was approved for use in China this February  

It comes as world leaders will discuss at the G20 Global Health Summit whether to waive patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines

Supporters say it will allow more manufacturers to produce life-saving vaccines and increase their supply to poorer countries

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9606183/COVID-19-vaccines-minted-NINE-new-pharma-billionaires.html