Covid vaccine, the negotiations of the pharmaceutical industry in the EU: between secret negotiations, conflicts of interest and compensation for adverse effects

First lobbying of pharmaceutical companies to continue treat separately with individual states, in secret negotiations that do not allow a country to know the price from which others will buy future treatments and vaccines. And then when the Commission nonetheless appointed a team of european negotiators for the future vaccine, the inclusion in the group of the former head of Swedish Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries, still partner of two companies active in the sector. Finally, the decision to raise one of the groups that will provide the vaccine for the responsibility by to damage possibly caused by adverse effects. It is the story of how and what the pharmaceutical industry obtained from the European institutions during the emergency. COVID-19, according to documents obtained from Europe corporate observatory and disclosures of Reuters.

The minutes of the meetings between the EU commissioners and the industry in April – “We would like to continue providing these new treatments through i usual channels and not with a joint contract. ” April, in an extreme emergency situation due to the shortage of medicines and health equipment, with these words a representative of EFPIA, the European Pharmaceutical Industry Lobby, addressed the European Commissioner for Health by phone Stella kyriakides and the Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, ask them to no longer use joint purchasing procedures transparent negotiations with individual states. They reveal it minutes of meetings between commissioners and industry during the peak ofCovid emergency 19, obtained from Europe corporate observatory (CEO) who recently published the dossier “Power and profit during a pandemic, because the pharmaceutical industry needs more control”.

“The representative association of Big Pharma has used its power to lobby against a mechanism (that of joint negotiation) designed to improve access and fair price treatments during the pandemic ”, emphasizes the report. The “usual channels” referred to by the Efpia representative -explain from the CEO’s observatory- “are those of secret negotiations maintained by the industry with individual states in which no country knows the price at which the product is sold elsewhere “, and has therefore less negotiation skills.

The EU team is born in August. Inside is the former head of the Swedish pharmaceutical lobby – The dossier takes stock of what the industry has achieved from the European institutions thanks to the Covid 19 emergency. If it is true that – in August – a “Joint negotiation team“That is, a group of European negotiators was then created to discuss contracts for the future vaccines, the Commission holds the names of its members are secret. In August, the Belgian newspaper Hln found that one of these negotiators is Richard Bergström, until 2016 the head of the Swedish EFPIA and still owner of personal interests in the pharmaceutical industry. as a co-owner company (PharmaCCX and Hölzle, Buri & Partner Consulting) that provide services to Big Pharma. The Commission’s website ensures that all members of the joint negotiating team have been appointed by their governments and that they “signed a declaration of absence of conflicts of interestHowever, no reference is made to a independent evaluation on the absence of conflicts of interest. However, these people are negotiating conditions that will result in spending millions of euros for all European taxpayers.

The contract with AstraZeneca and indemnifies you for damages for adverse effects – So far the Commission has signed two contracts: one with the company Astra Zeneca, owner of the vaccine developed in Oxford, of which it has obtained a supply of 300 million doses (with an option for an additional 100 million) to be distributed to the population. The price paid is – as revealed Reuters – 366 million euros. Is not a move along for the purchase of doses of the future vaccine, but of the reservation cost. If the vaccine will work then must be bought by the states and if it does not work, the Commission has paid this amount to Astra Zeneca to finance its development.

As always revealed Reuters In recent days, a secret agreement between the Commission and the Anglo-Swedish company has established that European governments will pay, within certain limits (not public), instead of Astra Zeneca for i harm possibly caused by adverse effects of the vaccine. A condition that constitutes an exception according to European legislation: according to the 1985 directive on product liability (“liability directive”), only the company is liable for damage caused by what it produces. According to a spokesperson for the Commission, the condition was obtained in exchange for a Discount on the price of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, set at 2.5 euros per dose. While the other contract signed by the Commission for an anti-Covid 19 vaccine, the one that Sanofi-GlaxoSmithKline, does not require states to pay for adverse effects, but the price per dose is higher: 10 euros. The Commission’s negotiating team continues to negotiate on behalf of all EU governments and, in addition to signing contracts with Astra Zeneca and Sanofi, has already concluded exploratory talks with the companies. Johnson and Johnson, CureVac and modern.

The initiative to share anti-Covid patents is at stake – Meanwhile, while the “global response to the coronavirus initiative” promoted by the Commission has led member states and organizations to 15.9 billion euros For the development of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic systems against Covid-19, few governments support the “Group for Access to Technology Covid19”, an initiative launched as part of thewho to share the intellectual property on technologies against the coronavirus financed with public funds and guarantee access to it for all. Although global access to anti-Covid treatments is on the lips of all leaders, among the governments of the European Union so far only they have joined Belgium, Netherlands me Luxembourg.

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