Donald Trump’s pick to be the “chief scientist” in overseeing the development of a coronavirus vaccine has a vested interest in one of the companies developing a drug for COVID-19.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui resigned his position as the head of Moderna Pharmaceuticals to take the White House post, but he kept stock options in the company valued at more than $10 million.
Business Insider writes:
“Described across four separate filings, Slaoui has 155,438 options in Moderna. The stake is worth $10,366,000 at Moderna’s current share price, $66.69 at the time of publication.
“Moderna shares have almost tripled in value during 2020. The $66.69 figure represents an increase of 184% from the $23.46 it was trading for on January 1.“
One reason for the increase is the federal government has given Moderna more than $400 million to assist in the development of a vaccine.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on Slaoui to divest immediately.
At a Rose Garden event on Friday, Slaoui said he had seen results of clinical trials on a possible vaccine. “…And this data made me feel even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020.”
Business Insider writes: “While Slaoui did not name the trial in question, Stat News said he was “likely referencing” the Moderna trial, which is in a position to provide that data.“
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert has long said that a vaccine is 12-18 months away. The idea of delivering millions of doses of a vaccine in the next six or seven months would be, as Fauci said, a “biomedical miracle.”