Pfizer announced that it will not compete with Russia: “Patients are in first place”
Despite taking a stand opposing the invasion of Ukraine, the American drug giant has announced that it will continue to supply drugs to the country so as not to harm the civilian population
Pfizer announced on Monday that it would continue to supply medicine to Russia, despite its firm opposition to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pfizer (Photo: Shutterstock)
The drug giant, based in the United States, said that implementing “a voluntary halt in the flow of our drugs to Russia would be a direct violation of our basic principle, which is to put patients first.”
According to them, stopping the supply of critical drugs, such as against cancer or cardiovascular treatments, will cause “significant suffering among patients and possible loss of human life, especially among children and the elderly.”
However, the company will still change the way business in Russia to show its support for Ukraine. “Pfizer stands by the united global community in both the public, private and civil sectors, in opposition to the Russian war in Ukraine and the cruel situation it has created,” Pfizer said.
As a support measure, the pharmaceutical giant will donate all the profits from its Russian subsidiary to causes that will support the Ukrainians.
Also, although Pfizer does not have production sites in Russia, it plans to stop all planned investments with local suppliers, “designed to build production capacity in the country.” The company will also stop initiating new clinical trials in Russia, and will stop recruiting efforts for ongoing clinical trials in the country.
Pfizer plans to work with regulators, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “to move all ongoing clinical trials to alternative sites outside of Russia.” Meanwhile, Pfizer says it will still provide necessary medications to patients who have already signed up for these trials.
“These decisions reconcile with the value at which the patient comes first, and ensure that every dollar of profit derived from Russia – will strengthen Ukraine and its people as they continue to heroically defend their nation and freedom from this unjustified attack.”
The issue of vaccines in particular and medicines in general, which serve as a diplomatic tool, is at the center of an ethical question – whether to continue business as usual with Moscow which in the vast majority violates human rights, or to deprive Russian residents of life-saving treatments.
About a week ago, the Lithuanian state decided to cancel a donation of nearly half a million doses of Pfizer vaccine to Bangladesh – after the latter, along with 34 other countries, abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly condemning the invasion.
To date, about half of Bangladesh’s population, totaling about 165 million people, is considered fully vaccinated, whether by Western drug manufacturers like Pfizer and Moderna, or Chinese manufacturers.
Lithuania’s move is finally hurting the civilian population, with about 60 percent of it below the poverty line, far more than the government it is supposed to target.
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