An open letter to Pascal Soriot

AstraZeneca could have immediately gone public when it decided to halt its Covid-19 vaccine trial. Instead, it sat on the information, STAT’s Ed Silverman writes — penning an open letter that chastises CEO Pascal Soriot for his company’s lack of transparency.

Once the news was out, investors were debriefed by Pascal on the details of the trial participant's “potentially unexplained illness,” but that same courtesy wasn’t immediately extended to the public. The optics call into question the company’s priorities, Silverman writes.

The company’s decisions may even amplify the growing public distrust around Covid-19 vaccines — particularly as Americans are worried that politics are overtaking science.

“We’re in a precarious state of public trust and withholding information about a bad thing — or what might be a bad thing — in a trial further erodes trust,” one medical ethicist told STAT.