Thread by @MSF_canada

Why is MSF calling on #Canada to ensure public spending on medical R&D is used for public health and not private profits? Because we have seen how it can save lives. A thread about #Ebola, Canadian science and the failure of the private sector. 1/12
bit.ly/3hF6WQn

#DidYouKnow that Canadian government scientists first developed an #Ebola vaccine as early as 2001 — but that it was still not available more than a decade later to help end the West Africa Ebola epidemic that killed thousands of people between 2014-16? Here’s why not: 2/12

Canada’s #Ebola vaccine was developed with public funds, but the medical R&D system is organized around creating commercial products for #pharma companies. So Canada didn’t test or trial its vaccine. Instead, the government left it to the private sector. This was a mistake. 3/12

In 2010, #Canada licensed its #Ebola vaccine to a US biotech firm to develop for regulatory approval. But rather than help bring a potentially lifesaving medicine to market - one that might save lives in #Africa, where Ebola is prevalent - the firm instead did nothing. 4/12

Four years later, when #Ebola had become a global health crisis, the biotech firm sold the vaccine to #pharma giant @merck for $50-million. The work of taxpayer-funded Canadian scientists was used to make significant profits for a small US firm. 5/12 bit.ly/2Y5PHj3

Waiting four years brought profits to one company, but did not bring Canada’s #Ebola vaccine closer to saving lives. Between 2014-16, more than 11,000 people died of Ebola in West Africa. Valuable time to test, trial and approve an effective #vaccine had been lost. 6/12

Last year the #Ebola vaccine finally got regulatory approval. But this was not because of @merck’s #BigPharma know-how: Clinical trials were made possible by public funding, including from Canada's govt, and the work of orgs like MSF and the WHO. 7/12 bit.ly/3fs9ajZ

The #Ebola vaccine story shows the flaw of the medical R&D system, which is driven by commercial profits: The interests of private #pharma companies don't align with public health needs — especially the needs of people in low-income countries or marginalized communities. 8/12

Governments fund research to address needs the private sector won't. #Canada spends billions on medical R&D, including $1B so far on #COVID, but still leaves it to the private sector to bring to market, and attaches no strings ensuring return on the public’s investment. 9/12

This must change. Governments funding medical R&D should ensure results are available for public health priorities and are #accessible and #affordable to those who need them most, before/if they are passed to private #pharma companies. #LivesOverProfits 10/12

This is why MSF is calling on the government of Canada to add critical safeguards to ensure public funds be used for public health outcomes first. This could have drastically changed the fate of the #Ebola vaccine and potentially saved thousands of lives lost. 11/12

We can't let this happen again, including for any #Covid19 development. Please amplify our voice by signing a petition demanding the Canadian government prioritize public funds for public health: bit.ly/2N5lxXc #LivesOverProfits 12/12