American officials downplay and deny accusations, while European ministers rage: ‘Germany is not for sale’
The owner of a German drug manufacturer has delivered an apparent rebuke to Donald Trump after the White House was accused of trying to procure a coronavirus vaccine it is developing – but “only for the United States”.
Mr Trump offered “large sums of money” to German biopharmaceutical firm CureVac to move its vaccine research to the US, with a view to securing exclusive rights to the resulting drug, Die Welt reported.
The German government then scrambled to financially incentivise the drug firm to remain in the country, according to the report – published on the front page of the paper’s Sunday edition under the headline: “Trump versus Berlin.”While German ministers reacted with fury and US officials – including the ambassador – sought to downplay or contradict the report, the drug firm’s main investor appeared to reprimand the US president.
“If we’re successful in developing an effective vaccine to combat the coronavirus in the near future, this should reach, protect and help people not only regionally but worldwide as a show of solidarity,” said CureVac’s main investor, Dietmar Hopp.
Mr Hopp, whose company Dievini Hopp Biotech Holding is the main investor in CureVac, added: “I would be glad if this could be achieved through my long-term investments out of Germany.”
While CureVac is disputing the existence of a US offer, Mr Hopp was also reported as saying that Mr Trump ”spoke to the company and they immediately told me what I thought of it and I knew immediately that it was out of the question.
“It cannot be that a German company develops the vaccine and it is used exclusively in the USA. That was not an option for me.”
The Trump administration has discussed vaccines with more than 25 companies, a US official calling reports of an attempted acquisition “wildly overplayed” told AFP and the New York Times. They added that any solution would be shared with the rest of the world.
CureVac’s chief executive Daniel Menichella met with Mr Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, at the White House on 2 March to discuss the company’s work on a vaccine.
Mr Menichella – who was last week revealed to be stepping down as CEO in a mysterious announcement – said at the time he was “very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months”.
CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, saying it “rejects current rumours of an acquisition”, adding on Monday that it had received no US offer “before, during and since the task force meeting in the White House”.
But these denials were not only at odds with Mr Hopp’s response, but with those of senior German officials.
Angela Merkel‘s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told Bild that German officials had “very intensive contact” with CureVac over the past fortnight “when there were thoughts of enticing it to the United States”.
“We also made clear that if a vaccine is developed in Germany, then it is for Germany and the world”, he said, adding: “That also convinced the company, so that it will stay.”
Germany’s interior minister, Horst Seehofer, was also asked at a news conference on Sunday whether he could confirm that the US had tried to take over a German vaccine company for a large amount of money.
“I can only say that I have heard repeatedly today from members of the government that this is true,” he replied.
Mr Seehofer added the matter of a German defence strategy regarding CureVac would be discussed at an emergency meeting held by the chancellor, Ms Merkel, on Monday.
Given the furious reaction of German ministers to the report, such a discussion looked set to be incendiary.
“Germany is not for sale,” economy minister Peter Altmaier fumed to ARD on Sunday, while health minister, Jens Spahn, described such a takeover as “off the table”
Mr Spahn added that CureVac would only develop a vaccine “for the whole world … not for individual countries”.
CureVac did not respond to The Independent‘s request for comment.
The Independent
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