Slaoui has received over $13.5 million from major drug companies since 2016

Ties to GlaxoSmithKline, Moderna, Lonza, Medicxi, SutroVax, Artizan Biosciences, Brii Biosciences, Intellia Therapeutics, Galvani Bioelectronics, PhRMA, BIO

Washington, DC – With reports that President Trump has appointed former Big Pharma executive Moncef Slaoui to a leadership position in his “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine effort, Patients Over Pharma released research reflecting the extensive relationships between Slaoui and major drug companies and the millions of dollars he has been paid by the pharmaceutical industry.

“It’s hard for people to have confidence that President Trump will protect patients from drug company price gouging when he keeps appointing their executives to top positions in his Administration,” said Eli Zupnick, spokesman for Patients Over Pharma. “Moncef Slaoui has been paid millions of dollars by drug companies and could very well go back to make millions more when this is over, so we are going to be paying close attention to make sure that he and the entire ‘Operation Warp Speed’ effort are putting patients and public health above BIg Pharma and their profits.”

Earlier this year, Patients Over Pharma released an updated and expanded version of their BigPharmasBestFriends.orgwebsite, which reveals the latest on Trump Administration officials who made millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, the number of pharmaceutical companies and lobbying groups represented in the Trump administration, the revolving door between the Trump Administration and the pharmaceutical industry, and more.

BACKGROUND: Moncef Slaoui & Big Pharma

Headline: New York Times: “Trump Picks Ex-Drug Company Executive to Lead Accelerated Coronavirus Vaccine Effort.” [New York Times, 5/13/20]

Trump Selected Former Drug Company Executive Moncef Slaoui To Lead Government Efforts To Speed Up Coronavirus Vaccine Development. “President Trump has picked a former executive of a major pharmaceutical company to lead Operation Warp Speed, the government’s effort to speed up development of a vaccine for the coronavirus, a senior administration official said Wednesday. Moncef Slaoui, a former chairman of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline, one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical conglomerates, will serve as the chief adviser on the vaccine effort, and Gen. Gustave F. Perna, a four-star general who is in charge of the Army’s readiness as head of the Army Matériel Command, will be the chief operating officer.” [New York Times, 5/13/20]

Slaoui Currently Serves On The Board Or As An Adviser For At Least 5 Pharma Companies – Including Three Actively Working On Coronavirus Vaccines Or Treatments – And Has Made More Than $13.5 Million From Pharmaceutical Work Since 2016:

GlaxoSmithKline

Slaoui Worked At GlaxoSmithKline For 30 Years And Has Been A Venture Capitalist Since Leaving The Company In 2017. “Mr. Slaoui, who has been a venture capitalist since leaving GlaxoSmithKline in 2017, worked for 30 years at the company, helping lead the development of dozens of vaccines.” [New York Times, 5/13/20]

Moderna 

Slaoui Joined Board Of Directors Of Moderna In July 2017. “Moderna Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company that is pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, announced today that Moncef M. Slaoui, Ph.D., has joined its Board of Directors. Dr. Slaoui served in several senior research & development (R&D) roles with GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) during his time with the company, most recently as its Chairman of Global Vaccines. While at GSK, Dr. Slaoui also served on its Board of Directors for 11 years and led its global pharmaceutical R&D activities from 2006 through to 2015. In conjunction with Dr. Slaoui’s appointment to Moderna’s board, Lee Babiss, Ph.D., will be stepping down from his role as a director.” [Moderna press release, 7/27/17]

Slaoui Was Listed As Member Of Board Of Directors As Of May 14, 2020. [Moderna – Board of Directors, accessed 5/14/20]

Moderna Received Fast Track Approval From The FDA To Move To Phase II Testing Of Potential Coronavirus Vaccine. “On May 12, Moderna Therapeutics, based in Cambridge, Mass., received fast-track approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273. Days earlier, the FDA gave the company the green light to proceed to Phase 2 testing of the vaccine, which is expected to begin shortly. The company plans to launch the final stage of human testing, Phase 3, this summer, assuming the Phase 2 studies are complete, says Dr. Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna.” [TIME, 5/12/20]

Moderna Received $453 Million Contract From BARDA To Accelerate Development Of Vaccine Candidate. “Moderna announced last month it had received a $483 million contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to accelerate the development of its vaccine candidate.” [SeacoastOnline, 5/1/20]

Lonza 

Slaoui Elected To Board Of Directors For Lonza In April 2020. “Lonza Group Ltd. has hosted its Annual General Meeting, according to a press release. . . . The shareholders elected Dorothée Deuring and Moncef Slaoui as new members of the board, and elected Angelica Kohlmann, Christoph Mäder, and Jürgen Steinemann as the three acting members of the Nomination and Compensation Committee.” [Lonza press release, 4/28/20]

Moderna And Lonza Launched Agreement To Partner On Coronavirus Vaccine Development. “Moderna, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, on Friday announced it is manufacturing a potential COVID-19 vaccine – called mRNA-1273 – in cooperation with Lonza. . . . According to a joint statement from the companies, the technology transfer is expected to begin in June, and the companies intend to make the first batches of mRNA-1273 at the Lonza facility at Pease in July. Over time, the parties say they intend to establish additional production sites across Lonza’s worldwide facilities, ultimately allowing for the manufacture of material equivalent to up to 1 billion doses of mRNA-1273 per year for use worldwide.” [SeacoastOnline, 5/1/20]

Medicxi

Slaoui Joined Life Sciences Investment Firm Medicxi As Partner In September 2017. “Medicxi, the leading European life sciences investment firm, today announces that Dr Moncef Slaoui, alongside his other commitments, has joined its team as Partner. Dr Slaoui was formerly GSK’s Chairman of Pharmaceutical R&D and of its vaccines division.” [Medicxi press release, 9/19/17]

Medicxi Scientific Advisory Boards Included Representatives From Novartis, Verily Life Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline And Johnson & Johnson. [Medicxi press release, 9/19/17]

SutroVax 

Slaoui Served On Board Of Directors For Biopharmaceutical Company SutroVax Since July 2017. “SutroVax, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the delivery of best-in-class conjugate vaccines and novel complex antigen-based vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of Moncef Slaoui, PhD, to the company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Slaoui recently retired following a nearly 30-year career at GlaxoSmithKline, during which time he oversaw research and development as Chairman of GSK R&D, served on the board, and most recently built the GSK vaccine division into the lead position in the industry as the Chairman of GSK Vaccines.” [SutroVax press release, 7/19/17]

Slaoui Was Named Chairman Of SutroVax In June 2018. “A little more than a year after it raised $64 million to develop a next-gen pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, SutroVax is back with another raise. And this time, it’s tapping an industry veteran to help steer the ship. Foster City, Calif.-based SutroVax on Thursday unveiled an $85 million series C funding round to advance its lead program, a pneumococcal shot aimed at taking on a multibillion-dollar market now owned by Pfizer’s Prevnar 13. The biotech also stepped former GSK vaccines president Moncef Slaoui up to its chairman role after he joined the board nearly one year ago.” [Fierce Pharma, 6/7/18]

Medecxi Invested In SutroVax As Part of $85 Million June 2018 Series C Funding Round. “Foster City, Calif.-based SutroVax on Thursday unveiled an $85 million series C funding round to advance its lead program, a pneumococcal shot aimed at taking on a multibillion-dollar market now owned by Pfizer’s Prevnar 13. . . . Other new investors Medicxi and Foresite Capital joined the series C round, as did each of the biotech’s existing investors, including Abingworth, Roche Venture Fund and more. SutroVax also announced an “end-to-end” supply deal with contract manufacturer Lonza for clinical testing batches and a potential advance to the market.” [Fierce Pharma, 6/7/18]

Slaoui Was Listed As Chairman Of Board Of Directors Of SutroVax As Of May 14, 2020. [SutroVax – Board of Directors, accessed 5/14/20]

Brii Biosciences 

Slaoui Is Scientific And Strategic Adviser To Brii Biosciences. [Brii Biosciences, accessed 5/14/20]

Brii Biosciences Partnered With Chinese Hospital And University On Coronavirus Antibody Research As Potential Treatment. “Brii Biosciences has teamed up with a Chinese hospital and university to develop antibodies against COVID-19. The partners leveraged their proximity to the initial outbreak and experience with SARS and MERS to build up a library of potentially neutralizing antibodies, putting them on track to start testing candidates in humans in the third quarter. . . . Sino-U.S. biotech Brii has established itself as a one of the rising stars of the infectious disease space in recent years, reeling in hundreds of thousands of dollars in VC funding to buy in a slew of assets. Late last year, Brii wound down its deal-making to focus on advancing its existing assets, but COVID-19 has led it to rethink.” [Fierce Biotech, 4/1/20]

Intellia Therapeutics 

Slaoui Named To Board Of Directors Of Intellia Therapeutics In July 2017. “Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading genome editing company focused on the development of potentially curative therapeutics using CRISPR technology, announced today the appointment of Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D. and Frank Verwiel, M.D. to its Board of Directors. Drs. Slaoui and Verwiel will begin Board responsibilities effective immediately. Intellia’s Board of Directors also is establishing a Science and Technology Committee, which will be chaired by Dr. Slaoui. Additionally, Carl L. Gordon, Ph.D., CFA, General Partner, OrbiMed Advisors, LLC, has informed the Company of his resignation from the Intellia Board of Directors effective at that close of business on July 25, 2017.” [Intellia Therapeutics press release, 7/24/17]

Slaoui Resigned From Intellia Board After Two Weeks Due To Unspecified Conflict Of Interest. “The former head of GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccines division has resigned suddenly from the board of Cambridge gene editing biotech Intellia Therapeutics after just two weeks in that role due to an unexplained conflict of interest, according to a federal filing on Tuesday…. The filing said only that the resignation was “due to a conflict of interest” and did not relate to “any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.” A spokesperson for Intellia declined to comment further.” [Boston Business Journal, 8/9/17]

Galvani Bioelectronics 

Slaoui Named Chair Of GSK/Google Galvani Bioelectronics In August 2016. “Galvani Bioelectronics – named for the 18th century Italian bioelectricity pioneer – will combine GSK’s drug discovery and development expertise in disease biology with Verily’s expertise in highly miniaturised technologies, including data analytics and software development for clinical application. Moncef Slaoui, chairman of global vaccines at GSK and chair of the newly-created biotech, said: “Together, we can rapidly accelerate the pace of progress in this exciting field, to develop medicines that truly speak the electrical language of the body.’” [PMLive, 8/1/16]

Galvani Is A Bioelectronic Medicine Company Established As A Partnership Between GlaxoSmithKline And Verily Life Sciences. “Galvani Bioelectronics is a new company, established in November 2016, dedicated to the development of bioelectronic medicines – a new class of medicines consisting of miniaturised, implantable devices. Formed through a partnership between global healthcare company, GSK, and leading technology company, Verily Life Sciences, Galvani Bioelectronics combines the complementary expertise of its parent companies to enable the research, development and commercialisation of bioelectronic therapies.” [Galvani – About Us, accessed 5/14/20]

Artizan Biosciences 

Slaoui Serves On Board Of Directors For Artizan Biosciences. [Artizan Biosciences – Board, accessed 5/14/20]

PhRMA and BIO

Slaoui Previously Served On Board Of Directors For PhRMA And BIO. “Dr. Slaoui has authored more than 100 scientific papers and presentations and served on the board of directors for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s Foundation, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s board of directors, and was a member of the National Institutes of Health’s Advisory Committee until 2016. Currently, he is a member of the Advisory Board for the Qatar Foundation.” [Intellia Therapeutics press release, 7/24/17]

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