09-24-2020, 08:22 AM
Revealed: Sir Patrick Vallance has £600,000 shareholding in firm contracted to develop vaccines
Government denies claims of potential conflict of interest, maintaining he is not involved in commercial decisions on coronavirus vaccines
The UK’s chief scientific adviser has a £600,000 shareholding in a drugs giant contracted to develop a Covid-19 vaccine for the Government, prompting claims of a potential conflict of interest. Sir Patrick Vallance, who also chairs the Government’s expert advisory panel on vaccines, holds a deferred bonus of 43,111 shares in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) worth £600,000 from his time as president of the multinational drug company, The Telegraph can reveal.
He has already cashed in more than £5 million worth of shares he received from the company during his tenure from 2012 until March 2018, when he became the Government’s chief scientific officer.
Accounts show he held 404,201 GSK shares when he left, worth £6.1 million at current values. In July, GSK and drugs multinational Sanofi agreed a deal with the UK Government to supply it with up to 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, subject to final contract.
It has a similar deal with the US Government for an initial 100 million doses as part of Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed.
Read More: Sir Patrick Vallance has £600,000 shareholding in firm contracted to develop vaccines
Government denies claims of potential conflict of interest, maintaining he is not involved in commercial decisions on coronavirus vaccines
The UK’s chief scientific adviser has a £600,000 shareholding in a drugs giant contracted to develop a Covid-19 vaccine for the Government, prompting claims of a potential conflict of interest. Sir Patrick Vallance, who also chairs the Government’s expert advisory panel on vaccines, holds a deferred bonus of 43,111 shares in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) worth £600,000 from his time as president of the multinational drug company, The Telegraph can reveal.
He has already cashed in more than £5 million worth of shares he received from the company during his tenure from 2012 until March 2018, when he became the Government’s chief scientific officer.
Accounts show he held 404,201 GSK shares when he left, worth £6.1 million at current values. In July, GSK and drugs multinational Sanofi agreed a deal with the UK Government to supply it with up to 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, subject to final contract.
It has a similar deal with the US Government for an initial 100 million doses as part of Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed.
Read More: Sir Patrick Vallance has £600,000 shareholding in firm contracted to develop vaccines