Pharma Company Denies Communication With Trump Administration About COVID-19 Vaccine

Multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that it has not spoken with the Trump administration about an emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine. The Financial Times reported Sunday that Trump was considering bypassing U.S. regulatory standards to greenlight the vaccine before the November election.

“It would be premature to speculate on that possibility,” the company said in a statement about a possible emergency use authorization.

The vaccine is currently being studied in the U.K. and several other countries, and has seen positive early-stage results. AstraZeneca has closed a $1.2 billion deal with the U.S. in May that would allocate 300 million initial doses of the vaccine.

Trump on Saturday accused the Food and Drug Administration of slow-walking clinical trials for vaccines and therapeutics to treat the virus.

“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has indicated he wants a vaccine available before the November election.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top member of the Trump’s coronavirus task force, has warned about authorizing a vaccine too soon.

“The one thing that you would not want to see with a vaccine is getting a EUA (emergency use authorization) before you have a signal of efficacy,” Fauci told Reuters on Monday. “One of the potential dangers if you prematurely let a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the other vaccines to enroll people in their trial.”