Did the Commission take into account Pfizer’s history?

Question for written answer  E-000178/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Mathilde Androuët (ID)

The European Medicines Agency has granted a conditional marketing authorisation for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on the basis of data provided by Pfizer. The Commission negotiated a purchase option for 2.3 billion doses of several vaccine candidates, but only Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have so far been authorised for the European market.

However, Pfizer have been convicted a number of times in the United States for falsification of data, corruption and paying kickbacks. In 2016, the company was also fined GBP 84.2 million in the UK for overcharging for its epilepsy drug. And in 1996, Pfizer was accused of causing the death of 11 children in Nigeria and physiological damage to many others by testing an antibiotic on them. Wikileaks revealed in 2010 that Pfizer had sought evidence of corruption against the Nigerian Justice Minister to force him to drop the prosecution.

In the negotiations, did the Commission take into account Pfizer’s history and methods?