1. Four Chinese cos. have started testing their coronavirus vaccine candidates on humans, more than the U.S. and Britain combined. But two of them have a long history of corruption and scandal, and all belong to an industry that is reviled by many in China nytimes.com/2020/05/04/bus…
2. In 2018, Chinese parents erupted in fury after they discovered ineffective vaccines had been given to babies. The public anger focused on Changchun Changsheng but the company that made a greater number of substandard vaccines was the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.
3. The Wuhan Institute of Biological Products is making an inactivated vaccine and is in Phase 2 trials now. It has been sued at least twice in China by plaintiffs who have alleged that the institute’s vaccines have caused “abnormal reactions,” according to court documents.
4. In both cases, the court ruled that the Wuhan institute had to partially compensate the victims a total of roughly $71,500. Its executives have been accused at least 3x of bribing officials at local CDCs in various provinces to thank them for purchasing their vaccines.
5. Sinovac Biotech, another company making an inactivated coronavirus vaccine, had been involved in a bribery scandal, according to court documents. From 2002-2014, a court said the general manager of Sinovac gave a senior drug evaluator nearly $50,000 to help w drug approvals.
6. The general manager of Sinovac was a man surnamed Yin, the documents showed. Chinese media reports have said that person is the current chief executive, Yin Weidong, who held the title of general manager from 2001 to 2017.
7. In both these cases, criminal charges were never pursued against these companies. This is because China’s vaccine companies have been accustomed to a closed political system that has a history of covering up safety scandals and protects them from foreign competition.
8. China’s regulators also tend to look the other way when it comes to state-owned vaccine firms, which make up abt 40 pct of the industry. Many of them operate with impunity, knowing that even if they are found to have produced faulty products, they are unlikely to be shut down.
9. Because of this history, several Chinese scientists feel that safety results from the first phase should be evaluated before the second phase was begun. But the Chinese govt, like many others, are accelerating approvals in a bid to compress timelines.
10. It would be interesting to see whether the Chinese govt makes it mandatory for everyone in China to use a Chinese-made vaccine, if it turns out that they find a vaccine first. Many white-collar folks still prefer foreign vaccines over domestic ones. END.
11. Here's our coverage in 2018.
In China, Vaccine Scandal Infuriates Parents and Tests Government
By @HernandezJavier nytimes.com/2018/07/23/wor…
In China, Vaccine Scandal Infuriates Parents and Tests Government
By @HernandezJavier nytimes.com/2018/07/23/wor…
