Pfizer did have the power to block other therapeutics. Pfizer has been accused of blocking “urgently needed” studies into the use of its novel oral antiviral drug for covid-19 combined with other medicines for use in low and middle income countries.

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) expressed concern on behalf of a consortium of 26 African and global research bodies that the drug company would not provide access to Paxlovid.1 It said that the refusal to cooperate set a “dangerous precedent” given the number of other antivirals in the pipeline and that it was difficult to understand the rationale for the decision in a global pandemic.