putting US taxpayers on the hook again

    putting US taxpayers on the hook again

9-13-2016  But interviews with more than 20 current and former employees and associates suggest Bancel has hampered progress at Moderna because of his ego, his need to assert control and his impatience with the setbacks that are an inevitable part of science.  Moderna is worth more than any other private biotech in the US, and former employees said they felt that Bancel prized the company’s ever-increasing valuation, now approaching $5 billion, over its science.  https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/13/moderna-therapeutics-biotech-mrna/

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5-1-20   ”I founded the company because I wanted to make an impact on human health," he said. "The CEO's job is to make money for investors."  https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/us/coronavirus-moderna-vaccine-invs/index.html

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a $456 million order with Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceuticals arm Janssen, which specified a “new vaccine asset for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19),” Forbes found.  It’s the largest reported amount spent on a vaccine project to date, even though the pharma giant hasn’t yet started any clinical trials as other firms have.

The deal was signed with the Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) on March 27, 2020.  It followed another order, made as part of the same contract with Janssen, for $150 million on March 20, 2020, for a “new antiviral” for COVID-19.It forms part of a deal between the U.S. government and Johnson & Johnson to co-invest $1 billion into vaccine research, development and clinical testing.    https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/03/30/the-us-just-signed-a-450-million-coronavirus-vaccine-contract-with-johnson--johnson/#7c08a7c32946