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Which One Is It - Drug Companies Singing Two Different Tunes on Bird Flu

Hypocrisy of French Vaccine Maker Shows Liability Protections
Are Nothing But a Way to Pad Their Profits

(Thursday, December 15, 2005) - A spokesman for the French drug company Sanofi Pasteur, one of the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers, has said that it won’t develop or produce any avian flu vaccines without first getting liability protections from the U.S. Congress. But according the company’s own press release, Sanofi is already producing an avian flu vaccine using $100 million provided by the U.S. Government. And the company recently broke ground on a $150 million vaccine facility that, according to its spokesman, will be used to double its capacity to produce flu vaccines – including an avain flu vaccine.

“This is nothing but an attempt by corporations that dominate our political process in Washington to shamelessly use the threat of a flu outbreak to get more giveaways from their friends in Congress,” said Ken Suggs, President of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). “How can Sanofi Pasteur say it won’t produce an avian flu vaccine today without legal protections when they are already producing an avian flu vaccine without these protections?”

The proposal U.S. Senator Bill Frist and others are preparing to sneak into the Defense Department Appropriations in these final days before Congress adjourns, without a vote or debate, would eliminate the right of individuals to hold drug companies that knowingly put dangerous and deadly drugs on the market accountable.

Sanofi Pasteur: Actions v. Words

The drug companies’ own statements and actions belie their claim that immunity is a “dealbreaker” for vaccine production.

Len Lavenda, the spokesperson for Sanofi Pasteur, said last month, “Full liability protection is a requirement for our participation in the development and production of a pandemic vaccine.” [Washington Post, 11/17/05]

But without any liability protections, Sanofi Pasteur has:

• Announced a $100 Million Contract with U.S. to Produce Avian Flu Vaccine.
• Signed Four Additional Pandemic-Related Contracts with the U.S. Government.
• Began Construction of $150 Million Vaccine Production Facility in Pennsylvania.
  

An artist’s rendering of the new vaccine production facility is available online.

In addition, Lavenda said in October, “…if the government were to announce there was a pandemic, we would stop producing the regular vaccine and put our resources into producing only the pandemic strain.” [Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), 10/7/05]

Deception and Hypocrisy is Industry-Wide

The deception and hypocrisy isn’t unique to Sanofi – there is an industry-wide attempt to convince Congress that liability protections are a prerequisite to investment in the vaccine market, even while they are at the same time investing in the vaccine market.

For example, Merck wrote in its annual 2004 report, “We are rapidly building our capacity to successfully compete in…new vaccine markets.” And the company began construction of a vaccine manufacturing facility in North Carolina last year.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) also recently announced its acquisition of ID Biomedical Corp., a flu vaccine manufacturing company that produces the Fluviral flu shot. A company spokesman stated that the purchase was part of a larger plan that will allow GlaxoSmithKline to produce approximately 150 million doses of flu vaccine per year by the end of the decade. In addition, the company:

• Has more than 1,000 scientists working on vaccine development.
• Said that it plans to launch five major new vaccines from its own research over the next five years with a combined market potential of up to $18.3 billion a year.
  
• Said in its annual report in 2004, “The Vaccine Business had a Strong Year.”
  

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As the world's largest trial bar, ATLA promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, defends the constitutional right to trial by jury, and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety. With 60,000 members worldwide, ATLA provides lawyers with the information and professional assistance they need to serve clients successfully and protect the democratic values of the civil justice system.