Rumsfeld, Gilead Sciences and the Flu Mess

[DrCorday]

Earlier there was a discussion on Rumsfeld's connection to the company that made one of the only antiretroviral drugs for the Flu, and the question was posed as to how much he would personally benefit from a flu epidemic resulting from a vaccine shortage.

I had some research done on the question, but the post went cold before i could share it.

Kudos to politicalguru-ga:

Dear Dr. Corday,

Surprisingly, there's very little on this connection. The information
found is not always verified, and sometimes spread by what one might
call political opponents of Rumsfeld and should be understood
accordingly.

It is a fact, that Rumsfeld was a board member since 1988 and the
chairman of the company between 1997 and until taking office in 2001
(SOURCE: Wikipedia, "Gilead Sciences"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilead_Sciences>). According to a site
associated with the Democratic Party (democrats.com) he still "has
ties that bind to the "old company.".

Rumsfeld still holds - at least indirectly - some Gilead shares. His
financial statement in 2001, prior to his nomination, shows "that his
holdings include between $6 million and $30 million in Gilead
Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, plus $1 million to $5 million in
vested stock options." (SOURCE: AP, "Cabinet Is Millionaires' Row",
Jan. 23, 2001, available from CBS:
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/01/23/politics/main266421.shtml>).

Derrick Wetherell, in an article titled "The Bush 100", writes:
"Defense Secretary Rumsfeld created a charitable organization, D.H.R.
Foundation, which maintains between $5 million and $25 million of his
wealth. Listed as one line item on his disclosure form with no further
explanation, the foundation -- using Rumsfeld's initials for its name
-- is not a public tax-exempt organization, but a private foundation.
The Chicago-based foundation was created in 1985, according to the
Illinois Secretary of State's office. Since that time, Rumsfeld and
his wife have contributed between $5 million and $10 million to their
foundation, according to their accountant, Terry Robbins.

The foundation's 1998 Form 990-PF, which all private foundations must
file with the Internal Revenue Service to maintain their tax-exempt
status, lists the total amount of assets under the foundation's
control as more than $6.2 million. That year, Rumsfeld gave 15,000
shares of Gilead Sciences, at the time worth more than $528,000, to
the foundation. That year, the foundation only paid out $261,420 in
grants, largely to conservative think-tanks such as the Leadership
Institute, Freedom House and the Heritage Foundation and government
affiliated think-tanks, such as the RAND Graduate Institute, which
received $21,000. The largest grant that year went to St. John's
College in Rumsfeld's current home state of New Mexico, and totalled
$118,000. Since 1993, Rumsfeld has transferred stock worth more than
$1.5 million at the time of transfer from his personal, taxable stock
portfolios to the tax-exempt foundation."
(SOURCE: Minorityx, <http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:ZWHdn8HXnlAJ:www.minorityx.com/viewarticle.php%3FartId%3D91+rumsfeld+shares+stock+gilead&hl=en>).

A full assessment of his current share in Gilead could be found at CBS
Market Watch Insiders:
<http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/person.asp?siteID=mktw&pid=12212214>

Tamiflu was launched in 1999 in the United States. Its distribution in
the EU, however, was stopped for sometime in 2000, because of a
European claim that it is not as effective as it claims against
Influenza type B. According to the company's announcements, is
supposed to be effective against Influenza A & B: " In its first flu
season, Tamiflu sales were approximately $20 million. These sales
should lay a solid foundation for U.S. product sales growth in the
next several seasons. However, in May, Gilead announced that Roche had
withdrawn a Tamiflu application for European Union approval after a
request for more data. The Committee for Proprietary Medicinal
Products (CPMP) questioned the effective-ness of Tamiflu against one
of the two subtypes of influenza, the type B strain. Roche plans to
add more data regarding the efficacy of Tamiflu against this specific
subtype." (SOURCE: Biospace, Company Snapshot , Gilead, 2000
<http://biospace.com/news_story.cfm?StoryID=9935720&full=1&gls=1>). It
also showed some activity against bird flu in lab experiments.

"Roche/Gilead's Tamiflu and Glaxo/Biota's Relenza are two
neuraminidase inhibitors that represent a new class of drugs for
treatment of influenza. Tamiflu won FDA approval in October 1999. It
is taken as a pill twice a day after the onset of influenza-like
symptoms for approximately five days. In clinical studies, Tamiflu
provided a 25-40% reduction in severity of flu illness and a 30-40%
reduction in the duration of illness. A 50% reduction in secondary
complications was also observed. On the somewhat more negative side
was the incidence (roughly 10%) of gastrointestinal side effects,
including nausea and vomiting. However, anecdotally, gastrointestinal
side effects can be minimized by taking the drug with food." (ibid).
In 2002 alone, it made $4 million profits for the company (SOURCE:
Bernadette Tansey, "PROFILE Gilead Sciences - Gilead grows up:
Visionary biotech start-up matures into pragmatic industry leader",
San Francisco Chronicle, April 14, 2003,
<http://www.aegis.com/news/sc/2003/SC030405.html>). In 2003,
"Royalties for Tamiflu climbed to $27.4 million versus $4.3 million
for the same period last year. The jump was due to a significant flu
season." (SOURCE: "Gilead shows good first quarter", San Mateo County
Times, Apr 23, 2004).

According to one of the articles on the Democrats.com site, "While
Rummy was Chairman, Clinical Trials of Tamiflu Treatment were
Rigged" :
"Here's a story the US media never ran! In 1999, the FDA approved the
use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, developed by Gilead Sciences and
Roche, for the treatment of flu (not just as a preventive drug). As a
result of this approval and one of the most aggressive advertising
campaigns of a drug ever to be waged, Tamiflu profits have soared in
the US. No wonder - a course of just 20 pills is over $200!! But it
turns out that the so-called randomized trials of Tamiflu were rigged
- they excluded subjects most likely to contract the flu! Guess who
was one of the moving forces in Gilead through these trials and the
aggressive marketing campaign? Donald "America Is My Guinea Pig and
Cash Cow " Rumsfeld, (Chairman of the Board 1997-2001). "
(SOURCE: Democrats.com,
<http://archive.democrats.com/preview.cfm?term=Donald%20Rumsfeld>).

Last October, the media reported that a shortage in vaccines in the
United States could lead to a boost in the sales of Tamiflu (as well
as Relenza) (i.e., "Tamiflu, Relenza could get a boost from vaccine
shortage", The Associated Press
Updated: 12:16 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2004, MSNBC,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6205436/>). The Administration reportedly
ordered some Tamiflu to handle a pandemic: "Doctors say only one
brand, Tamiflu, is practical for large-scale stockpiling, but so far
no government has bought the big amounts needed for a pandemic. <...>
The U.S. government has already ordered an extra supply of Tamiflu to
help deal with the current flu season, although the exact amount is
classified. Much more would be needed for a pandemic." (SOURCE: "Bird
Flu Pandemic Would Drain Drug Supply", NewsMax Wires, Monday, Feb. 02,
2004).

Another article, on World Net Daily, blames the government for not
having enough Tamiflu, not mentioning flu vaccines:
"YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK - Critics ask why flu shot doesn't match strain
Mercury in vaccine found to be 250 times higher than recommended"
(World Net Daily, January 20, 2004,
<http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36677>).

This naturally leads to some implications that a shortage in flu drugs
would benefit the share owners of Gilead, since people would thrive to
buy it privately.

I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
further clarification on this answer before you rate it. My search
strategy was to search for Rumsfeld's name, adding the drug's name,
the company's name, etc.

PS - I also love(d) ER.

---end politicalguru-ga report

That's it, if anyone cares! Peace!

[MountainLaurel]

1. OT, but wasn't Gilead

The name that was given to the United States after the Christian fundamentalists took over in "The Handmaid's Tale?"

[DrCorday]

2. WHOA!

You're right! I never read the book, but I confirmed the tidbit on SparkNotes (haha, cheap...): http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/themes.html

It's also in the Bible (Genesis 31:21). Weird stuff. Almost spooky.