Russia-Ukraine war: Pfizer halts clinical trials in Russia, but will maintain supply of medicines

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, Pfizer Inc. on Monday said it would no longer start new clinical trials in Russia and that it would donate "every dollar of profit" from its subsidiary in the country to Ukraine relief causes.

In a statement, the company said it stands with the "unified global community across the public, private and civil society sectors in opposition to the Russian war in Ukraine and the brutal situation it has created". However, the drugmaker said that it will continue to supply medicines to the Russians.

Pfizer Inc. said these decisions align with their "patient-first values" and "ensure that every dollar of profit derived from Russia will strengthen Ukraine and its people as they continue to valiantly defend their nation and freedom from this unprovoked and unjustified attack".

Read full statement here:

Pfizer Inc. stands with the unified global community across the public, private and civil society sectors in opposition to the Russian war in Ukraine and the brutal situation it has created.

The international community has implemented unprecedented sanctions to Russia. As with all previous instances, for humanitarian reasons, medicines were excluded from these sanctions. Pfizer concluded that a voluntary pause in the flow of our medicines to Russia would be in direct violation of our foundational principle of putting patients first. Ending delivery of medicines, including cancer or cardiovascular therapies, would cause significant patient suffering and potential loss of life, particularly among children and elderly people.

However, maintaining the supply of medicines to Russia does not mean we will continue doing business as usual in Russia. Today we are announcing that effective immediately Pfizer will donate all profits of our Russian subsidiary to causes that provide direct humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine. This will be in addition to all other recently announced donations from Pfizer to Ukraine

Additionally, we will no longer initiate new clinical trials in Russia, and we will stop recruiting new patients in our ongoing clinical trials in the country. Pfizer will work with FDA and other regulators to transition all ongoing clinical trials to alternative sites outside Russia. Consistent with our commitment to putting patients first, we will continue providing needed medicines to the patients already enrolled in clinical trials.

Finally, while Pfizer doesn’t own or operate any manufacturing sites in Russia, we will cease all planned investments with local suppliers intended to build manufacturing capacity in the country.

These decisions align with our patient-first values and ensure that every dollar of profit derived from Russia will strengthen Ukraine and its people as they continue to valiantly defend their nation and freedom from this unprovoked and unjustified attack.

Published on: Monday, March 14, 2022, 09:12 PM IST