(Reuters) -The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Monday subpoenaed a former Pfizer executive after he declined to voluntarily comply with the committee’s oversight into whether the company intentionally delayed clinical trial results of its COVID-19 vaccine until after the 2020 presidential election.
The committee subpoenaed Philip Dormitzer, the company’s former global head of vaccine research, who helped oversee development of the COVID shot during the first Donald Trump administration.
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in May wrote in a letter to Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla that it is looking into the comments allegedly made by Dormitzer.
The company began to share its trial results on November 9, 2020, just days after Joe Biden won the presidential election against Trump.
Pfizer has long denied any relation between the timing of its vaccine results announcement and the U.S. election.
The company and Dormitzer did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
“The allegation that some Pfizer employees worked to withhold public health information, apparently so as to influence the 2020 presidential election, implicates substantial federal interests and requires additional inquiry, which will in turn inform potential legislative reforms,” according to a statement from the House Judiciary Committee on Monday.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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