Congress joins leftist parties in Brazil in alleging ‘scam’ in Covaxin deal

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On Friday, the Congress party asked the Modi government to comment on alleged fraud in Brazil’s purchase of Covaxin, which has been leveled by Brazilian opposition parties against President Jair Bolsonaro. The Congress Party said that although Bharat Biotech is a private company, the Covid-19 vaccine was developed in collaboration with the ICMR, and since public money was used there, the government should not remain silent on the question.

Congressional spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said: Taxpayers’ money has been invested in there and that is why we have a right to ask ourselves: what happened with this money and why the government is he visibly silent on this? She claimed that since ICMR is expected to get 5% of the sale of the vaccine, the government agency suffers a loss due to the scam, as it claimed that Bharat Biotech was selling the vaccine to another company for a lower price. , which in turn supplied the vaccine to Brazil at the hefty price of $ 15 per dose.

The deal to provide 20 million doses of Covaxin was canceled by the Brazilian government, after an opposition senator filed a complaint against President Bolsonaro for corruption in the deal. It was alleged that the president had turned a blind eye to allegations of wrongdoing in the deal, and subsequently, federal investigators launched an investigation into the deal.

However, a review of the available facts does not suggest any scam in the deal, and it appears to be part of the Brazilian opposition’s efforts to impeach the president in order to remove him from his post.

The allegations

In February of this year, the Brazilian government signed an agreement with Bharat Biotech to purchase 20 million doses of Covaxin at a price of $ 324 million, at the rate of approx. $ 15 per dose.

Left-wing opposition parties also allege that the price of $ 15 per dose is the highest in the world, even higher than the price of the Pfizer vaccine. They claimed the initial price for the vaccine was $ 1.34, and it was increased to $ 15 when the deal was signed in February 2021.

The deal was called off after Brazilian congressman Luiz Miranda claimed he warned the president of a possible scam in the deal, but it was ignored. During a testimony before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (ICC) on June 25, Luiz Miranda said he was informed of the scam by his brother Luis Ricardo Miranda, a former head of the Ministry of Health, responsible for signing agreements with vaccine manufacturers. .

Luis is said to have said he was pressured to sign the deal despite irregularities.

Luis also said that a Singapore-based company Madison Biotech sent a $ 45 million bill to the Brazilian government for 3 million doses, at a rate of $ 15 per dose. He said it was irregular, as Madison was not mentioned in the contract, which was signed by Bharat Biotech, the Brazilian government, and Precisa Medicamentos, Bharat Biotech’s representative in Brazil.

Left-wing opposition parties used the allegations to attack the government, forcing the government to quash the deal and order an investigation.

Reality

The Congress Party repeated the claim of Brazilian opposition parties that although the price of Covaxin is $ 1.34, it is sold in Brazil for $ 15, so it is a scam in the agreement. But the point is, this claim is absolutely false. There is no evidence that the actual price of Covaxin is $ 1.34 or 100. The vaccine is being supplied to the Indian government at a heavily subsidized price of 150, but the company claims it is a uncompetitive price and not sustainable in the long term. The company sells the vaccine to private hospitals in India at the rate of 1,200 per dose, or about $ 16, more than the price charged in Brazil.

In April, Bharat Biotech announced that Covaxin’s export price would be $ 15 to $ 20, which means the price charged by Brazil is the lower of the range. A statement released by the company on June 30 on the allegations indicates that COVAXIN has been clearly priced at $ 15 to $ 20 per dose for supplies to governments outside of India. Pricing for Brazil was also listed at $ 15 a dose.

The scam’s claims are based on the false claim that the original price of Covaxin is $ 1.34, which is even less than the subsidized price for the Indian government, and Bharat Biotech does not sell the vaccine at that price. to anyone else including state governments and private hospitals in India. The price of $ 15 for Brazil is in line with the price of Indian private hospitals. If the Congress party and the opposition party expect the vaccine to be available for Brazil at 100 per dose, they are clearly wrong.

The Brazilian government has denied that the country pays more for the vaccine. Onyx Lorenzoni, the secretary general of the presidency, said the vaccine is not overpriced, and those who made the claims cannot count. He also clarified that no vaccine was purchased, that no payment was made, so there is no question of scam. He also said that one of the documents presented by Luis Miranda was false.

Precisa Medicamentos also said that the price set by Bharat Biotech for Brazil is the same as the price charged by 13 other countries that use Covaxin. They said the price was set by Bharat Biotech and there was no scam.

Now coming to the Singapore-based company Madison, contrary to claims by opposition parties in India and Brazil, the company is actually part of Bharat Biotech. A statement released by Bharat Biotech informs that Madison Biotech was founded in 2020 by the founder of Bharat Biotech, Dr Krishna Ella, and that it is a Bharat Biotech group company.

Bharat Biotech statement on Madison

The company advises that Madison Biotech acts as the global sales and marketing arm for Bharat Biotech. Dr. Ella and his wife Ms. Ella founded Bharat Biotech in 1996 with the mission of driving innovation and large-scale manufacturing in the field of human vaccines. Since then, Dr Ella has also founded or acquired 13 other organizations. This includes Madison Biotech, which he founded in 2020 for the purposes of external R&D and vaccine sales and marketing, according to the Bharat Biotech statement.

We wish to dispel any notion or implication of any wrongdoing as these are all affiliates founded / acquired and operated by Dr Krishna Ella, the company also added.

The Government of Brazil has confirmed that the invoices were sent by Madison as it is authorized to do so by Bharat Biotech. The government released a letter from Bharat Biotech to the media, indicating that Bharat Biotech has entered into a supply agreement with Madison Biotech to supply and distribute various products of Bharat Biotech in different regions and territories.

Letter from Bharat Biotech broadcast on television by the Brazilian government (Source: The Wire)

The letter specifically adds that all channel partners and entities are urged to accept invoices issued by Madison Biotech Pte Ltd for the products supplied.

Responding to allegations from left-wing opposition parties, President Bolsonaro said no payment had been made to Bharat Biotech because the country had not received any vaccines from the company, nor was it is therefore no question of financial irregularities in the agreement. The company also confirmed that it had not received any payment from Brazil.

Although the deal was signed in February, Covaxin was not approved by the country’s health authorities until June. As a result, no vaccine batch was shipped to the country by Bharat Biotech before the deal was canceled by the Brazilian government.

From the above, it can be concluded that the alleged scam in the Covaxin agreement for Brazil does not exist, as the price is similar to the export price advertised by the company, and the Singapore-based company is a a company of the Bharat Biotech group, not a shell company. This shows that the Congress Party is working with left-wing parties in Brazil to attack right-wing governments in both countries.

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