MEPs strongly demanded clarity on vaccine deliveries and insisted that pharmaceutical companies honour their contracts. In a grilling session at the European Parliament, lawmakers tackled a number of issues, including asked about global technology transfers, sharing patents, and how industry intends to update the vaccines in order to keep up with emerging variants.
At the same time, the session allowed lawmakers to understand the challenges that pharma companies face to increase production, with the exchanges serving as an important exercise in bridging the cap between policymakers and industry on this important theme where both sides ultimately need each other. MEPs quizzed CEOs and representatives of leading pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, CureVac, Novavax, Pfizer and Sanofi, on how to remove obstacles to faster commercialisation, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines.
During the discussion, MEPs also questions CEOs on how the European Medicines Agency could speed up market approval at European level. Some MEPs asked whether an EU export ban on vaccines would help Europe compared to other countries that have introduced export bans. In their remarks, industry representatives highlighted the challenge of building production capacity for entirely new and complex products, and the international nature of supply chains.
They also defended the patent system which is currently in place, in reply to questions from MEPs who asked if giving up patents to vaccines, which are partly public funded, would help increase production. “It was because of a strong patent system that we were even able to manufacture and develop this vaccine in the first place,” Angela Hwang, Pfizer Inc president for global biopharma, told EU lawmakers in a public hearing. With new variants of the coronavirus emerging, Hwang said the company needs to continue its research and ensure the intellectual property network is strong. Pfizer also opposed export bans saying vaccine production depends on open trade channels.
MEPs did not shy away from putting hard-hitting questions, with AstraZeneca’s CEO Pascal Soriot under fire for the company’s failure to deliver on its commitments. Esther de Lange, an MEP from the centre-right EPP, did not mince her words with a number of hard-hitting questions, including whether the company “knowingly entered into contractual obligations you knew you could not or never deliver on to all parties?” Soriot’s replies were not too forthcoming with MEPs complaining that the explanations provided were “very simple”.
To a query by the MEPs on whether technology transfer was a possible way to increase production, Johnson & Johnson chief scientific officer, Paul Stoffels, said it would not be useful in the short term as any transfer was likely to take up to two years before companies are able to produce the vaccine.
J&J said it was confident of meeting its 2021 commitment of delivering 200 million doses to the European Union.
“This was a world first: CEOs of the main vaccine manufacturers appearing before elected representatives. It’s good for transparency, and it’s good for democracy. It is crucial to regularly check accountability and commitments made. Moreover, the race to produce vaccines is intensifying and we are gearing up to use all available tools to support it. This was the point of this hearing”, said Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Chairman Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, FR). “The European Parliament will play its role fully to win the vaccine deployment battle. The contact group put in place by the Parliament and Commission will further strengthen our role”, he added.
“Today’s challenge is about how to produce extremely complex products on a scale that is absolutely unprecedented. This is an industrial challenge”, said Industry, Research and Energy Committee Chairman Cristian Bușoi (EPP, RO). “This hearing was an exercise in democratic accountability. We wanted to know where the production bottlenecks are and to have a clear picture about the industry’s commitments and obligations. But we also want to help the industry deliver the doses, because our priority is to get vaccination done.
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
