Former Pharmaceutical Research Scientist asks questions about the legitimacy of the 'vaccines' and why they were not put through the approval process for what they really are: Gene Therapy.
by Dr. John D. Flack 7th February 2022
I joined Beecham Research Laboratories in 1970 as a pharmacologist/endocrinologist charged with discovering new anti-fertility ‘drugs’. My team came close but ultimately failed in this endeavor but as is the norm in the discovery of pharmaceuticals we made the serendipitous discovery of an anti-inflammatory compound which became a very successful effective-and-safe treatment for the symptomatic relief of patients with chronic degenerative joint diseases. We jested amongst ourselves that drug discovery was “like looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer’s treasure”. To outsiders, it was of course a case of ‘chance favouring the prepared mind’.
Whatever, we knew that only one in several thousand compounds we made would be a successful marketed drug. Safety, of course, was paramount. The pharmaceutical industry was still reeling from the thalidomide disaster and the industry along with Government regulatory authorities worked together to do as much as was possible to avoid such tragedies ever happening again. It was perhaps quite understandable, then, we were ultra-cautious, and I have no doubt that on the faintest whiff of any safety problem we ‘failed safe’ and almost certainly ‘threw the baby out with the bath water on many occasions. The industry and regulatory authorities were obsessed in putting safety over efficacy. Getting a drug through the preclinical and clinical stages of safety testing was not only very expensive but invariably took more than a decade. Patent law was changed to give an extended period for exclusivity to allow for the industry to have any chance of making a return on investment.
Another feature of this period was the industry’s relationship with academia. It wasn’t hostile but there was most definitely a difference between the academic freedoms and independence to do research in universities in contrast to the targeted commercial research carried out by industry. We judiciously chose academics as consultants who were prepared to view the relationship as one of equals, but in general there was no doubt there was an attitude of superiority by the academic community. Coupled with this the industry was seen as a very convenient ‘whipping boy’ by the print and TV media. There was hardly a week when BBC Panorama wasn’t exposing some scandal. Making money by trying to make the sick well was seen as a positively evil objective. Investigative journalism was the way to journalistic stardom. What a contrast to the situation we see today. To all intents and purposes over the past two years the Government regulatory authorities, academia, mainstream media and industry appear to be sharing the same bed – all very cosy!
Gone, it seems to me, are the checks and balances that we had in the 1980s that provided the public with some sense of confidence that the medicines being marketed were both effective and safe. Academics are frequently charged now with having vested interests. Securing grant money for research is now a matter for international consideration. Witness the huge amount of funding our universities now receive from China and the Gates Foundation. Who can blame the sceptics cry of ‘follow the money’?
So it was that in 1980 I transitioned into pharmaceutical development and became Director of Safety Evaluation of the newly named Beecham Pharmaceuticals. This grand title – again reflecting the emphasis on safety – at ground level meant managing the toxicology and metabolism/pharmacokinetic departments for a decade.
Though a raft of safety studies had been agreed to try to guarantee safety, how was it possible to trust the industry to do these studies in strict accordance with the Government regulatory guidelines? Thus, the implementation of formal inspections by the Government regulatory authorities to monitor Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). No stone would be unturned during these inspections, and I recall now the many sleepless nights mentally wrestling with the inspectorate from the USA Federal Drug Agency and the U.K. Safety of Medicines Department – now called the MHRA (Medicines Health Regulatory Authority). However, it must be said that though there was most certainly, and rightly, an adversarial atmosphere, there was always a recognition that the joint goal was to provide effective medicines that were safe.
With this background, we come to December 2020, when, under emergency measures, ‘vaccines’ still in the experimental phase of development were rolled out with much fanfare to immunise the vulnerable population against the new viral disease of COVID-19. The disease, caused by a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2, had and was still wreaking havoc across the globe – originating in China in late 2019.
So, in a matter of weeks and months rather than years and decades, a new drug was being administered to healthy – albeit elderly and or infirm – human beings, to protect (immunise) them should they ever become infected with the virus. If this was something of a surprise, there was also the knowledge that previous attempts to discover effective and safe vaccines against earlier strains of this type of virus, namely SARS-1 and MERS, had failed. Furthermore, historically, coronaviruses in general had not proven to be amenable to conventional vaccine technology.
What then was the explanation for this amazing breakthrough at just the very time it was needed? And it was needed big-time, because an unprecedented strategy of locking up the whole population had been taken by public health and governments all around the world, rather surprisingly, all at about the same time, to deal with the pandemic. The only way out was to vaccinate the whole population – not just the old and infirm as we were first told – with a vaccine that was going to be – had to be – very safe and effective. The answer to their prayers was gene technology. Mention gene technology in former times in connection with growing crops more efficiently and eating the food derived from these crops you would have received a bloody nose from the natural food activists. Why not now? Were we told? Were we asleep? Were we all in awe of the hyperbole of Boris et al surrounding the brilliance of British – notably Oxford University – research? Just let’s call it a vaccine – everyone knows how safe they are. Conflating brand new and untried technology with safe and reliable traditional concepts – no problem!
But there is a problem. The old concepts of dead or attenuated viruses as vaccines – classical vaccine technology – we have had decades of experience both in their biology and manufacture. Annually the general population are offered ‘flu vaccines – few are concerned about their safety, and rightly. Not too much concern either as to their efficacy, but who cares if they are safe. Surely these new ‘vaccines’ can be considered in a similar manner?
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