Ex-Pfizer Doctor Tells Congress He Didn’t Delay Covid Shot Data
(Bloomberg) — A former Pfizer Inc. scientist denied an allegation made by House Republicans that he conspired to delay the release of Covid shot data to hurt Donald Trump’s 2020 election prospects, the latest twist in a dispute that demonstrates how vaccines are increasingly becoming a political flashpoint.
Philip Dormitzer, a former top official at Pfizer, said the idea that he and his colleagues sought to prevent Trump from winning reelection is a “false conspiracy theory,” according to a letter to the House Judiciary Committee obtained by Bloomberg.
Dormitzer’s letter follows a resurgence of interest in Trump’s oft-repeated allegation that the drug industry conspired against him in 2020 by delaying the disclosure of good news about the Covid shot. In March, shortly after Trump’s second inauguration, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors were investigating the matter.
The denial also comes as discussions around vaccines, and the network of scientists and companies behind them, have come under a microscope. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and recently fired and partially replaced the government’s expert immunization panel.
In his letter, Dormitzer said he has left the country due to “the dismantling of vaccine science in the United States.” He offered to provide testimony to the committee by video conference, the letter states.
The judiciary committee, led by Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, is investigating an allegation that Dormitzer and his Pfizer colleagues deliberately delayed positive news on the company’s Covid vaccine until after the 2020 election. The committee issued a subpoena to Dormitzer last month, ordering him to hand over documents and testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.
In an accompanying letter to Dormitzer, the committee claimed he admitted to slow-walking the results that Pfizer’s vaccine for Covid succeeded in a key clinical trial, citing information provided by GSK Plc, where the scientist later worked. The committee alleged Dormitzer told GSK that “the three most senior people in Pfizer R&D were involved with a decision to deliberately slow down clinical testing so that it would not be complete prior to the results of the presidential election that year.”
In his response letter, Dormitzer said the process of concluding the Covid study and processing its results was “tightly controlled” by the Food and Drug Administration and “not tied to Election Day.” Dormitzer’s attorney also disputed the committee’s authority to subpoena him but agreed to provide unspecified documents, warning that he has nothing that would support the allegations.
Pfizer and GSK didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Pfizer has said that executives learned the results of its pivotal vaccine study on Nov. 8, 2020, five days after the election and one day after major news outlets called the race in favor of President Joe Biden. Pfizer disclosed the results Nov. 9.
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