NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, March 24, 2017

After taking a beating over a proposed Zika vaccine license from the U.S. Army, Sanofi is hitting back. R&D chief Elias Zerhouni wrote a letter to New York Times editors stating that Senator Bernie Sanders, who recently lambasted the proposal, “doesn’t seem to recognize” the importance of public-private partnerships.

Zerhouni contends that Sanofi is not getting something for nothing in the arrangement and that the collaboration could lead to a shot that would protect the public from a devastating disease.

Earlier this month, Sanders took the proposed license to task in a New York Times op-ed, saying President Donald Trump should move to block a “bad deal” for American taxpayers. As part of an “insane system,” Americans would pay twice for the vaccine, Sanders argued: first for the initial research and then later if they need protection against Zika.