The Morning Star ---- Super rich pharma companies making ‘privatised’ vaccines with public cash, campaigners warn

Super rich pharma companies making ‘privatised’ vaccines with public cash, campaigners warn BIG pharma companies toting more income than many wealthy and oil-rich nations are posing a “serious obstacle to wiping out Covid-19” having produced “privatised” vaccines with public money, campaigners warned today. Some of the corporations producing Covid-19 treatments have a history of ripping off the NHS, profiteering from disease and market manipulation, research by Global Justice Now has found. Six of the biggest corporations in the coronavirus market generated about £200 billion last year, with profits totalling £35bn, according to their report The Horrible History of Big Pharma. Johnson & Johnson alone rakes in more revenue than New Zealand or Hungary. Pfizer’s revenues are higher than those of oil-rich Kuwait or Malaysia. The firms have also taken billions of pounds from governments in research and manufacturing funding, as well as pre-sales of medicines. Campaigners argue that these vast sums of money have funded producing vaccines in record time, but that treatments and vaccines have essentially been “privatised.” It means that rich countries are prioritised for distribution and governments are left with no leverage over the pricing of the drugs, making it harder to control coronavirus, they say. Pfizer has made no promise to limit profits on its Covid-19 vaccine, and has pre-sold over 1bn doses to rich governments representing just 14 per cent of the world’s population. Moderna’s vaccine has been made with public money, yet the company is expected to charge up to £55 per person for immunisation. The vaccine being developed by Oxford University was to be produced on a non-exclusive, royalty-free basis. However, on entering a deal with AstraZeneca, it is now exclusive and while the company maintains it will not profit during the pandemic, it has failed to release details of its contract. Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, said the vaccines should be “owned by the public” and distributed fairly. He added: “It’s beyond disgusting that a group of wealthy corporate executives and hedge funds are using this opportunity to further enrich themselves.” Global Justice Now also pointed towards many instances of price gouging, such as Pfizer and its British distributor hiking the price of an anti-epilepsy drug which 48,000 NHS patients relied upon. As a result, NHS annual expenditure on the capsules rose from about £2 million to £50m in a year. Wholesalers and pharmacies faced price hikes of 2,300 per cent to 2,600 per cent.