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Public health

Philip Morris Divests from Medicago, Allowing COVID-19 Vaccine to Reach International Markets

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Philip Morris International, a tobacco company with ties to Big Tobacco, has fully divested its shares from Medicago, a Canadian vaccine collaborator, following the World Health Organization's rejection of Covifenz, Medicago's plant-based COVID-19 vaccine, due to the company's ties with the tobacco industry. Medicago is now 100 per cent owned by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, freeing it to distribute its vaccine internationally.

The decision follows criticism from the public health community, who argued that collaborating with a multinational tobacco company could undermine efforts to control the tobacco industry. The federal government, which provided $173 million to Medicago in 2020 to develop the vaccine, has been working to find a solution to support the company's growth.

Medicago's vaccine, Covifenz, was approved for use in Canada in February but was temporarily kept out of COVAX, a global COVID-19 vaccine-sharing initiative, after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would not accept the vaccine's emergency use request due to the company's ties with Big Tobacco.

Key Takeaways:

  • Philip Morris International has divested all of its shares from Medicago, allowing the company to distribution its plant-based COVID-19 vaccine, Covifenz, internationally.
  • Medicago is now 100 per cent owned by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, freeing it to distribute its vaccine internationally.
  • The federal government provided $173 million to Medicago in 2020 to develop the vaccine and build a new production facility.
  • Covifenz was the first plant-based vaccine to be approved for use in Canada, but it was temporarily kept out of COVAX due to the World Health Organization's rejection of its emergency use request.
  • Dr. Scott Halperin, director of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology, said that the decision now allows Mediciel to distribute its vaccine internationally if it reapplies with WHO.
  • Leslie Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, criticized the government's decision to collaborate with Medicago, stating that public funds could have been better invested in other Canadian companies not backed by Big Tobacco.
  • The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control commits to protect public health policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.

Statistics:

  • $173 million: The amount of money provided by the federal government to Medicago to develop the vaccine and build a new production facility.
  • 76 million: The number of doses of Covifenz ordered by the federal government.
  • 21%: The percentage of Medicago's shares owned by Philip Morris International before the divestment.
  • 100%: The percentage of Medicago's shares now owned by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma.

Sources:

  • CBC News
  • World Health Organization (WHO)
  • Action on Smoking and Health
  • Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Dalhousie University
  • Medicago

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