Will Big Pharma and US Nationalism Stand in Way of Vaccines, Treatments?

FEATURING PETER MAYBARDUK – While the world has come together to develop organized responses to the coronavirus, including cooperation on testing, the production and distribution of protective equipment, an exploration of best treatments, and most importantly vaccine development, the US under President Donald Trump has stood aloof.

Reports abound of the Trump administration swooping in to seize equipment and choosing to go it alone on vaccine development. Trump’s withdrawal of US funding for the World Health Organization in particular is emblematic of the dangerous nationalism that the US is expressing. And US pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms are eyeing monopolies and flirting with price gouging. At a time when global cooperation is the best defense against a pandemic, Public Citizen has released a set of principles for “global access, innovation and cooperation.”

Read the principles HERE.

Peter Maybarduk, Public Citizen’s Global access to Medicines Director.