The GSK – Pfizer Multibillion Dollar Global Vaccine Monopoly
It’s Big Pharma, It’s Big Money. It’s the multibillion dollar global vaccine market.
In August 2019, five months before the onslaught of the Covid-19 crisis, two of the largest Worldwide Pharma conglomerates decided to join hands in a strategic relationship which barely made the headlines.
In an August 2019 Press release GSK confirmed the formation of a major partnership with Pfizer entitled the Consumer Health Joint Venture:
GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) today announced that it has completed its transaction with Pfizer to combine their consumer healthcare businesses into a world-leading Joint Venture.
The agreement is far-reaching. It includes financial procedures as well as joint multibillion dollar reinvestment projects.
Does it constitute a de facto merger? According to the GSK report, the tendency is towards the integration of the two Pharma giants.
… the Joint Venture [GSK-Pfizer] will focus on completing the integration of the two businesses, which is expected to realise annual cost savings of £0.5bn by 2022 for expected total cash costs of £0.9 billion and non-cash charges of £0.3 billion. Up to 25% of the cost savings are intended to be reinvested in the business to support innovation and other growth opportunities.
At present, five multinational companies including GSK and Pfizer control 80% of the global vaccine market. With the de facto merger, GSK-Pfizer is slated to play a dominant role.
Source Pharma Boardroom
This GSK-Pfizer relationship also encompasses a network of partner pharmaceutical companies, research labs, virology institutes, military and biotech entities, etc. many of which are currently involved in the Covid vaccine initiative.
Money rather than Public Health is the driving force behind this initiative:
“The completion of the joint venture with Pfizer marks the beginning of the next phase of our transformation of GSK. This is an important moment for the Group, laying the foundation for two great companies, one in Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines and one in Consumer Health.” (GSK, August 1, 2019, emphasis added)
While the two companies envisage a “separation” clause following a process of restructuring, GSK and Pfizer have integrated their decision making process in regards to the vaccine market.
“With our future intention to separate, the transaction also presents a clear pathway forward for GSK to create a new global Pharmaceuticals/Vaccines company, with an R&D approach focused on science related to the immune system, use of genetics and advanced technologies, … Ultimately, our goal is to create two exceptional, UK-based global companies, with appropriate capital structures” (GSK)
What is at stake is the de facto formation of a Big Pharma Worldwide monopoly with a global network of “partners”. Most of the so-called 125 candidates are involved in subcontracting (out-sourcing) manufacturing and marketing activities on behalf of the Big Pharma conglomerates.
The COVAX initiative launched in April was intended to facilitate the Worldwide access to the Covid vaccine, is coordinated by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO) (all of which are funded by the Gates foundation).
In turn, the Gates foundation is a major shareholder of the Big Pharma vaccine conglomerates including GSK and Pfizer:
Sanofi and Glaxosmithkline were awarded about $2.1 billion in July from the U.S. Operation Warp Speed to support development and large-scale manufacturing of their adjuvanted recombinant protein subunit vaccine, providing the federal government with 100 million doses. The companies also have supply deals with the U.K., Canada and Gavi, an international vaccine alliance. (BioWorld, December 202o, emphasis added)
Other major actors are France’s Sanofi which acts in partnership with GSK, Moderna which has ties to Pfizer, Merck, Astrazeneca and Johnson and Johnson.
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Global Research can be found here ***
