Questionable No-Bid Contract for Smallpox Drug Given $433 Million by Team Obama, Siga Technologies Tied to Billionaire Democrat Party Donor Ron Perelman
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 13, 2011
Billionaire Ron Perelman, left, is a major stockholder in Siga Technologies, Inc., which received millions of taxpayer dollars from Obama for a controversial smallpox drug
As the investigations into the unwise, questionable, and likely cronyism-driven funding that Team Obama made into the now-bankrupt solar panel company Solyndra continue, a new questionable deal struck with taxpayer money, a multi-million-dollar no-bid contract awarded by the “most transparent administration ever,” is now being scrutinized.
More than $433 million of taxpayer money was given to Siga Technologies, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated company that has manufactured a new smallpox drug — a costly drug that expert critics say we don’t need and which hasn’t been approved by the FDA. It’s questionable that the drug even works.
And — raise your hand if you’re even a tiny bit surprised — the controlling shareholder of Siga Technologies is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, a huge Democrat Party donor.
It appears that yet another act of Democrat/Obama cronyism has squandered millions of taxpayer dollars on a crony-favored sweetheart deal.
While smallpox at one time decimated the world’s population, that hasn’t been the case in decades. The World Health Organization certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979, although the virus does exist in labs in the US and Russia. Additionally, the federal government has already stockpiled $1 billion worth of smallpox vaccines, enough to inoculate the entire nation. This Siga smallpox drug is a DRUG, not a vaccine, meant to be used in addition to the vaccine.
So why has hundreds of millions of dollars been spent by Team Obama on a no-bid contract for a new, untested-on-humans smallpox drug manufactured by a wealthy Democrat donor’s company?
We need answers, boys and girls.
In September, former Gov. Sarah Palin wrote on her Facebook page a strong piece titled, “Crony Capitalism on Steroids from GE to Solyndra.” Palin can now add Siga/Smallpox to the growing list.
From Los Angeles Times, Cost, need questioned in $433-million smallpox drug deal:
Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.
Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.
When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company’s financial demands, senior officials replaced the government’s lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.
When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.
Siga was awarded the final contract in May through a “sole-source” procurement in which it was the only company asked to submit a proposal. The contract calls for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation’s biodefense stockpile. The price of approximately $255 per dose is well above what the government’s specialists had earlier said was reasonable, according to internal documents and interviews.
Once feared for its grotesque pustules and 30% death rate, smallpox was eradicated worldwide as of 1978 and is known to exist only in the locked freezers of a Russian scientific institute and the U.S. government. There is no credible evidence that any other country or a terrorist group possesses smallpox.
If there were an attack, the government could draw on $1 billion worth of smallpox vaccine it already owns to inoculate the entire U.S. population and quickly treat people exposed to the virus. The vaccine, which costs the government $3 per dose, can reliably prevent death when given within four days of exposure.
From Fox News, Questions Arise Over $433M Smallpox Drug Contract to Company Tied to Dem Donor:
Scientists are questioning a $433 million government contract for a smallpox drug they say the country doesn’t need, amid concerns over the way the project was secured for a firm tied to a Democratic donor.
The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that U.S. officials took unusual steps to award the contract to Siga Technologies. Democratic donor Ronald Perelman has the controlling share of the company.
The article cited emails showing the Obama administration replaced the lead negotiator on the project following complaints from Siga — Siga was apparently concerned about the government’s objections to how much money Siga would make off the deal.
Earlier, in December, the government also reportedly blocked other companies from bidding on the contract in a second round.
Siga ultimately won the contract in May, but some questioned the price of the drug — approximately $255 per dose — and the practicality of the project.
The government already has a smallpox vaccine on reserve. Siga’s pill is meant to help people diagnosed too late for the vaccine to be effective, according to the Times.
But the drug has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and there are limits on how it can be tested.
One epidemiologist described the plan as a “waste of time and a waste of money.”
Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin’s blog reminds us of this campaign promise made by The One during his bid for the presidential office:
“I will finally end the abuse of no-bid contracts once and for all. The days of sweetheart deals for Halliburton and the like will be over when I’m in the White House.” – Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, October 2, 2008
Looks like another lie for the Marxist in Chief and his administration. To add to the pile of all the other lies.
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