Trump 'offers large sums' for exclusive access to coronavirus vaccine

[Northerner]

The Trump administration has offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported.

The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles.

The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac “large sums of money” to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt.

According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, “but for the US only”.

The German government was reportedly offering its own financial incentives for the vaccine to stay in the country.

Trump 'offers large sums' for exclusive US access to coronavirus vaccine

German government tries to fight off aggressive takeover bid by US, say reports

www.theguardian.com

Anyone remember when Fred Banting discovered insulin and sold the patent for $1 so it could benefit the world?

 

[grovesy]

I think this deplorable,but this does not totally surprise me. I thought there were many countries trying to work together to develop a vaccine.

 

[mikeyB]

There is a slightly less alarmist report of this in today’s Washington Post. A White House spokesman denied the report, with the caveat that he couldn’t say what Trump did without discussion with his colleagues.

That said, in the same article, it was reported that an American company a couple of weeks ago acquired a Dutch company (for £11bn) that makes coronavirus testing kits that can give results after an hour. That’s way over the market rate for that particular company.

There is widespread disquiet in the US because Trump is giving out messages that are almost contrary to what medical and epidemiologist experts are saying, almost living in a world of his own. The trouble is, nobody can shut him up while the serious work gets done. And people are wondering how come Trump can get tested, along with other notable folk and sports teams, and nobody else can.

And today comes the news that more people around the world have died from the virus than have died in China.