Trump's new therapeutics czar

[Moncef Slaoui, the former GlaxoSmithKline R&D chief who spent eight years overseeing vaccine work,] steered [GSK]’s $720 million purchase of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals in 2008, which was shuttered amid questions five years later; sold off GSK’s entire oncology business, which Novartis turned into a “cancer heavyweight”; and directed GSK’s $3 billion acquisition of Human Genome in 2012, which hasn’t led to much of a return. Those are “three of the worst deals in drug industry history,” one pharma industry veteran told PULSE.

[...]

Slaoui interviewed with White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx, senior adviser Jared Kushner, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and others last week, three people with knowledge told POLITICO. But Slaoui had repeatedly denied his interest in the role to POLITICO, saying on Monday that the persistent questions were “inappropriate” and not relevant.

“I’m the same venture capitalist you talked to last week,” he said.

[...]

And advocates are warning he has “blatant financial conflicts of interest,” given that he sits on the boards of multiple vaccine developers. “Slaoui needs to prove that he is not — in his words — the same pharma venture capitalist he was last week,” Public Citizen said in a statement.

  Politico

With Jared on the case, what could go wrong?