a-t makes PANDEMRIX contracts public: At the end of 2007, the German federal and state authorities signed contracts with GlaxoSmithKline for the supply of the pandemic vaccine PANDEMRIX and agreed to maintain confidentiality (a-t 2009; 40: 85-7). However, we feel that there should be no secrecy clauses, if matters of health of the general public and public expenditures of about 500 million Euros are concerned. Furthermore, external experts should be included in all procedural steps of the contracts so that mistakes can be identified promptly. The fact that at-risk groups such as pregnant women or patients with a severe chicken-protein allergy have been simply forgotten in the mass-vaccination plans and that the adjuvanted vaccine PANDEMRIX that has been ordered is an unsuitable vaccine for preventing swine flu because of its poor tolerability (a-t 2009; 40: 93-5) could and should have been avoided. Interested parties have been able to consult the contracts since mid-November 2009:

http://www.arznei-telegramm.de/Vertrag01-GSK-Bund-Laender.pdf
http://www.arznei-telegramm.de/Vertrag01A-GSK-Bund-Laender.pdf
http://www.arznei-telegramm.de/Vertrag02-GSK-Bund-Laender.pdf
http://www.arznei-telegramm.de/Vertrag02A-GSK-Bund-Laender.pdf