CNN
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The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed a former Pfizer executive who is considered central to its investigation into an allegation that clinical testing related to the development of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine was purposefully delayed until after the 2020 presidential election, according to documents obtained by CNN Monday.
The demand for documents and a deposition from Dr. Philip Dormitzer, first obtained by CNN, comes after the committee says Dormitzer has failed to comply with requests to appear voluntarily and turn over records.
Dormitzer is a key figure in the legislative probe. The committee has alleged that it had information the former Pfizer executive, after going to work for British drugmaker GSK, told his colleagues that Pfizer had delayed announcing its Covid vaccine was effective until after the election. The Wall Street Journal reported that GSK brought those claims to federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
But Dormitzer disputed that there had been any delay in seeking approval for the vaccine. He told the newspaper, “My Pfizer colleagues and I did everything we could to get the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization at the very first possible moment,” and that “any other interpretation of my comments about the pace of the vaccine’s development would be incorrect.”
CNN reached out to Dormitzer and his representative for comment. In issuing him a subpoena, the Judiciary Committee noted his importance to the probe.
“Based on the information we have obtained to date, the Committee believes your testimony is critical for our oversight,” the letter said.
Pfizer’s announcement about the effectiveness of its Covid-19 vaccine came nearly a week after Election Day, but Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has said the timing had nothing to do with politics. In an interview with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta after the election in 2020, Bourla threw cold water on the idea that there was any political motivation behind releasing the news after voters in the United States chose their candidate for president. GSK is a rival drugmaker.
The committee has said it received information from GSK about Dormitzer’s November 2024 interactions with a GSK human resources representative. The committee highlighted information GSK provided, but CNN has not reviewed the full GSK letter. CNN has reached out to the committee to request the letter.
“As the human resources representative recalls, in their meeting, Dr. Dormitzer was visibly upset; he requested that he be relocated to Canada due to concerns that he could be investigated by the incoming Trump Administration over his role in developing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine,” GSK said, according to a letter from House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan.
“According to the human resources representative, when asked what prompted his request, Dr. Dormitzer made a comment to the effect of: ‘Let’s just say it wasn’t a coincidence, the timing of the vaccine’,” the letter adds.
Jordan also quoted GSK’s claim that Dormitzer told his former colleagues at the company “in late 2020, the three most senior people in Pfizer R&D were involved in a decision to deliberately slow down clinical testing so that it would not be complete prior to the results of the presidential election that year.”
The committee has also sought information from Pfizer directly, but has not issued the company a subpoena.
