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.
特朗普已經成功說服食品和藥物管理局批準羥基氯喹等藥物，但并沒有科學證據證明其有效性。他（不正當?shù)兀┲缚乇O(jiān)管部門是“幕后政府”的一份子，試圖延緩疫苗開發(fā)，直到大選結束。這樣的做法更像是催促監(jiān)管部門抓緊批準疫苗。
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.
顯然，大型制藥公司憂心忡忡。如果人們認為制藥公司研制的疫苗過早予以批準通過，那這些公司將蒙受巨大損失。制藥業(yè)依賴食品和藥物管理局來實現(xiàn)業(yè)務。就像是人們乘坐飛機是因為相信航空監(jiān)管機構一樣，人們服用藥物也是因為信任這些藥物是安全有效的。一旦失信于人，制藥商將損失慘重。
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.
對研究的投入也會面臨相同的窘境。如果制藥公司無需證明就能夠簡單地宣稱新研制的藥品效果卓越，那它們就沒有動力開發(fā)更好的藥物。特朗普就任后，他的一些隨行人員游說他任命一位療效標準更為寬松的食品和藥物管理局負責人。醫(yī)生和患者們立即敲響了警鐘。制藥商也警醒了起來，他們推舉了一位標準更加嚴格的候選人擔任負責人。
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.
制藥業(yè)發(fā)表的聲明明確指出，新冠肺炎疫苗的研發(fā)進程將緊跟科學的腳步，政治無法進行干預。同一天，又出現(xiàn)更多的證據證實聲明的可信度，當天，阿斯利康停止了在世界各地開展的臨床試驗，此前，一名受試者出現(xiàn)了不良反應。這一事件可能會減緩疫苗的研發(fā)。但也在意料之中。事實上，阿斯利康的決定表明，制藥公司們仍在堅持科學和道德標準。與其說它們是“幕后政府”陣營，不如說是“深層科學”。
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