This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Trump's New COVID-19 Czar Holds $10 Million In Vaccine Company Stock Options

Elizabeth Warren slammed the "huge conflict of interest," and demanded Moncef Slaoui "divest immediately."

Senator Elizabeth Warren has slammed COVID-19 vaccine czar Moncef Slaoui’s “huge conflict of interest” after required federal filings revealed he holds $10 million in stock options in one of the companies working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

Warren demanded that Slaoui “divest immediately.”

Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive, was named “chief scientist” on Friday for US President Donald Trump’s “Operation Warp Speed,” a COVID-19 vaccine development operation. In order to take the new role, he stepped down from his position on the board of directors of biotech company Moderna Inc., which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But Slaoui still owns 155,000 Moderna stock options, totaling more than $10 million as of Friday, according to Business Insider.

Slaoui’s economic interest in the company could influence government support for Moderna over other companies that may be more successful in their hunt for a vaccine.

Moderna last month announced that it received $483 million in federal funding for vaccine development, which sent its stocks up 15%, CNBC reported.

When he was introduced on Friday by Trump in a Rose Garden press briefing, Slaoui said the president’s aim to have a vaccine by the end of the year was “credible,” though it would be “extremely challenging.”

Slaoui said he was “more confident” after seeing “early data from a clinical trial.” He did not name which company was conducting the trial. But health publication Stat News said that it was probably Moderna, the company Slaoui stands to profit from, because he likely had access to that information. Moderna’s experimental coronavirus vaccine just entered Phase 2 of clinical trials, The New York Times reported.

Slaoui could not immediately be reach for comment by HuffPost.


Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.