Don’t make a bad Zika deal

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump told the American people during his presidential campaign, “This country is being drained of its jobs and its money because we have stupid people making bad deals.” He promised to make better deals.

Now his administration, through the Army, is on the brink of making a bad deal, giving a French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, the exclusive licence to patents and thus a monopoly to sell a vaccine against the Zika virus. If Trump allows this deal, Sanofi will be able to charge whatever astronomical price it wants for its vaccine. Millions of people around the world will not be able to afford it although US taxpayers have already spent more than $1 billion on Zika research and prevention efforts, including to develop this vaccine.

The Department of Health and Human Services gave Sanofi $43 million to develop the Zika vaccine with the United States Army. And the company is expected to receive at least $130 million more in federal funding. Sanofi CEO Olivier Brandicourt earns about $4.5 million a year. Even the government of France criticised this salary, calling it “incomprehensible”, yet the US government is happy to enrich Brandicourt even more.

Before Trump makes this deal, he must guarantee Sanofi will not turn around and gouge consumers or the US military when it sells the vaccine. Unfortunately, the likelihood is Sanofi will engage in exactly this predatory behaviour – because it’s happened before.

The prostate cancer drug Xtandi was developed at UCLA with taxpayer-backed research grants and support from the Army and the National Institutes of Health. The patents, which were assigned to the university by the US government, were transferred to a pharmaceutical company that is charging Americans $129,000 a year. In Canada, the same drug costs $30,000 because, unlike the States, Canada regulates drug prices.

A Zika vaccine would be a tremendous scientific advancement and could prevent birth defects in countless children around the world. American soldiers serving in Zika-prone areas need it. And other Americans may need the vaccine’s protection because Zika is linked to severe congenital brain damage. A decision on Sanofi’s application is expected later this year.

Will the president negotiate a better deal? Or was he lying when he claimed he would make only the best deals on behalf of the American people?

We will soon find out.