2020年经济学人 制药公司让特朗普坐冷板凳(2)（在线收听）

Mr Trump has already successfully harried the FDA to authorise drugs, such as hydroxychloroquine, with no scientific evidence for their efficacy. He has accused the regulator (unfairly) of being part of a “deep state” effort to try to slow down vaccine development until after the election. It looked like part of a strategy to get the regulator to hurry up.

特朗普已经成功说服食品和药物管理局批准羟基氯喹等药物，但并没有科学证据证明其有效性。他（不正当地）指控监管部门是“幕后政府”的一份子，试图延缓疫苗开发，直到大选结束。这样的做法更像是催促监管部门抓紧批准疫苗。

Big pharma is clearly worried. Drug firms stand to lose a great deal if their products are seen as being waved through prematurely. The industry relies on the FDA to make business possible. In the same way that people fly because they trust the aviation regulator, they take medicines because these are believed to be safe and effective. Take away the trust and the medicines’ makers would suffer.

显然，大型制药公司忧心忡忡。如果人们认为制药公司研制的疫苗过早予以批准通过，那这些公司将蒙受巨大损失。制药业依赖食品和药物管理局来实现业务。就像是人们乘坐飞机是因为相信航空监管机构一样，人们服用药物也是因为信任这些药物是安全有效的。一旦失信于人，制药商将损失惨重。

So would investment in research. Pharmaceutical firms have little incentive to develop better drugs if they can simply claim a new product is superior without having to prove it. When Mr Trump came into office, some in his entourage lobbied him to install as head of the FDA someone with a more relaxed approach to efficacy standards. Doctors and patients immediately raised the alarm. But so did drugmakers, who pushed for a more serious candidate to assume the position.

对研究的投入也会面临相同的窘境。如果制药公司无需证明就能够简单地宣称新研制的药品效果卓越，那它们就没有动力开发更好的药物。特朗普就任后，他的一些随行人员游说他任命一位疗效标准更为宽松的食品和药物管理局负责人。医生和患者们立即敲响了警钟。制药商也警醒了起来，他们推举了一位标准更加严格的候选人担任负责人。

The industry statement makes it clear that vaccine development will move at the pace of science, not politics. More evidence of this came the same day, when AstraZeneca halted clinical trials around the world after one participant showed an adverse reaction. This may slow down vaccine development. But it is also par for the course. Indeed, AstraZeneca’s decision shows that the system is working. Not so much deep state as deep science.

制药业发表的声明明确指出，新冠肺炎疫苗的研发进程将紧跟科学的脚步，政治无法进行干预。同一天，又出现更多的证据证实声明的可信度，当天，阿斯利康停止了在世界各地开展的临床试验，此前，一名受试者出现了不良反应。这一事件可能会减缓疫苗的研发。但也在意料之中。事实上，阿斯利康的决定表明，制药公司们仍在坚持科学和道德标准。与其说它们是“幕后政府”阵营，不如说是“深层科学”。