Sanders: Trump must stop French company's exclusive Zika vaccine deal

[highplainsdem]

Source: The Hill

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is pressuring President Trump to stop the Army from giving a French company the exclusive license to a vaccine against the Zika virus.

In a New York Times op-ed published Saturday, Sanders criticized French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, noting the firm has already gotten $43 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a vaccine with the Army and is expected to receive $130 million more in federal funding.

“If Mr. Trump allows this deal, Sanofi will be able to charge whatever astronomical price it wants for its vaccine,” Sanders wrote.

“Before President Trump makes this deal, he must guarantee that Sanofi will not turn around and gouge American consumers, Medicare and Medicaid or our military when it sells the vaccine.”

-snip-

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/323521-sanders-trump-must-stop-french-companys-exclusive-zika-vaccine-deal

[still_one]

1. wonder how many shares in SNY he owns?

[stuffmatters]

2. Why aren't other Dem Senators making noise against this too?

This seems a fairly typical example of the big Pharma shafting taxpayers model: taxpayers pay hundreds of millions here, i.e. "socialize the R&D costs" then we're gouged for the actual drug by Pharma "privatizing the profits." (here with a Zika vaccine potentially billions in profits)

This needs an Outrage Chorus from all our Dem Senators & Reps, not just Bernie.

[George II]

3. With all the troublesome issues these days this is the one he's worried about? For reference...

...there have been 5100 cases of Zika Virus in the US over the last two years (~2500 annually) resulting in one death.

On the other hand:

There are more than 500,000 Americans who are homeless
There are more than 45,000,000 Americans living in poverty
There are 7,900,000 unemployed Americans


etc.....

Where are the priorities?