9 Drug Companies Pledge to ‘Stand with Science’ on Coronavirus Vaccines

Nine drug companies banded together to release a statement that they would not put forward a coronavirus vaccine until it had been thoroughly vetted for safety and efficacy. This statement was so newsworthy that it was widely reported. Even The New York Times who claims to publish “All the News that’s Fit to Print” devoted an article to it.

It got me wondering. What have these drug companies been doing for the past 50 years? Were they not standing with science? Did they haphazardly release drugs without testing them? Did they rush drugs to market and ignore side effects? Maybe they did. In fact, a few drugs that were taken off the market pretty quickly come to mind—Zomax, Seldane. Even the Lyme vaccine was withdrawn from market over concerns of long-term reactions. 

So, maybe the pledge not to rush out a poorly tested vaccine really is needed.