In this investigative piece, we delve into the rise of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that sent shockwaves across the globe in early 2020. We aim to dissect the events that led to the emergence of this crisis, and how it was leveraged by corporations and individuals worldwide. Our goal is to present the facts without succumbing to conspiracy theories or drawing conclusions without substantial evidence.
SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in late 2019 and was widely recognized as COVID-19 by early 2020. We will walk you through the timeline of COVID-19's history, shedding light on some known and lesser-known facts.
The Opioid Epidemic: A Prelude
Many Americans will recall the "Opioid Epidemic" (original article deleted by December 20th 2022) that began in the '90s. Pharmaceutical corporations falsely marketed opioid-based medications as safe, leading to a surge in opioid overdoses and addiction. The crisis culminated in a Declaration of Public Health Emergency in the USA in late 2017.
These corporations raked in billions in revenue during this period. However, it took nearly 20 years for the government and its institutions to acknowledge the problem and declare a public health emergency. This declaration allowed the government to coordinate actions, ranging from new laws to funding grants for recovery or public alleviation programs.
By the end of this era, nearly one million Americans had died from drug overdoses, with around 275 people dying daily by 2019. Nearly half of these were opioid-related overdoses. Interestingly, as this multi-billion dollar business began to wane, another lucrative opportunity presented itself: vaccines.
The Rise of Vaccines
Vaccines offered a new avenue for profit, with fear of death or sickness replacing pain as the primary motivator. The customer base expanded from individuals to entire governments and unions, and even healthy individuals became potential customers. The product these pharmaceutical giants produced was often prescribed by law in several countries. This new goldmine was the vaccine against COVID-19.
However, we must clarify that there is no concrete evidence to suggest that COVID-19 was deliberately released by pharmaceutical corporations. In this article, we assume the best intentions of all parties involved. It is simply a fact that the same players who profited from the opioid crisis are now among those selling a vaccine against COVID-19.
The same corporations that settled in court for selling dangerous opioid drugs while advertising them as non-dangerous are now providing another "non-dangerous" drug. This time, these corporations did not even need FDA approval. Many countries already mandate COVID swabs and impose fines on those who refuse. Others restrict the social freedoms of these individuals, who are then labeled as "anti-vaxxers" and blamed for the spread of COVID-19.
It's worth noting that the same corporations responsible for nearly half a million opioid-related deaths in America are now selling their latest "wonder drug" to humanity. Those who refuse to take (or cannot handle) this vaccine are considered antisocial, and perhaps soon, even criminal.
The Emergence of SARS-CoV-2, aka COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2 was officially isolated for the first time by the Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology on January 5, 2020, or earlier (sources differ, see WHO, WHO, NCBI). The international community had access to the genome no earlier than January 12, 2020.
On January 23, 2020, 18 million people were placed under quarantine in Wuhan, China. By January 30, the Director-General of the WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), WHO's highest level of alarm.
Interestingly, on January 23, the same day that China quarantined 18 million people and seven days before WHO declared a public health emergency, Moderna received a Funding Award from CEPI to Accelerate the Development of a Messenger RNA (mRNA) Vaccine Against Novel Coronavirus (Original article deleted by December 1st, 2021).
As their board meeting report discloses, the CEPI organization already knew the Award would be granted five days before, on the 17th, when discussing the MUSD5 Award. MUSD5 refers to Million US Dollars 5; in other words, 5 Million US Dollars were awarded. Not only to Moderna, but we will focus on this Corporation only, at the moment.
In Exhibit 99.1 Moderna states:
- On January 11, 2020, the Chinese authorities shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus.
- On January 13, 2020, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna’s infectious disease research team finalized the sequence for mRNA-1273, the Company’s vaccine against the novel coronavirus. At that time, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, disclosed their intent to run a Phase 1 study using the mRNA-1273 vaccine in response to the coronavirus threat and Moderna mobilized toward clinical manufacture. Manufacture of this batch was funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
- On February 7, 2020, the first clinical batch, including fill and finishing of vials, was completed, a total of 25 days from sequence selection to vaccine manufacture. The batch then proceeded to analytical testing for release.
- On February 24, 2020, the clinical batch was shipped from Moderna to the NIH for use in their Phase 1 clinical study.
- On March 4, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its review of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application filed by the NIH for mRNA-1273 and allowed the study to proceed to begin clinical trials.
- On March 16, 2020, the NIH announced that the first participant in its Phase 1 study for mRNA-1273 was dosed, a total of 63 days from sequence selection to first human dosing.
Let's pause for a moment and reflect on this timeline and the facts we know so far:
- Around January 5, SARS-CoV-2, also known as nCOV, was first isolated in China.
- No earlier than January 12, the genome is first made available to the global community.
- Just one day later, on January 13, a corporation named Moderna was already able to finalize the sequence for the novel virus vaccine.
- Despite the already finalized sequence of the new vaccine, an Award is granted to the (and other) Corporation by a privately financed organization (CEPI) to accelerate the Development of the said vaccine on January 17.
- It takes two more weeks for the WHO to announce a global health emergency.
The Marvels of Modern Pharma
Either we are witnessing the marvels of modern pharma, or something is amiss. While theoretically possible, it is practically almost impossible for a vaccine to be sequenced the same day as the genome of the disease it should cure is first made public and thus accessible by Corporations like Moderna.
Indeed, the MUSD5 Award was (amongst others) granted to Moderna since the Corporation already had experience with mRNA vaccines. They were (and are) working on similar vaccines against other viruses (however, only tests and research, no actual selling products at that time).
Let's assume this is all just a fortunate coincidence. Within one month, on February 11, just one day after Moderna announced mRNA-1273 (the anti-COVID-19 vaccine Codename), the physical manufacturing of the first batch completes. Plans regarding regulatory submission and clinical testing in the works, the Corporation Announces Pricing of the Public Offering of Shares of Common Stock (Original page deleted by December 2021).
Using what is commonly known as an IPO (Initial Public Offering), an organization does not need to make mandatory interest payments to investors. Instead, it can make discretionary dividend payments when it has extra cash. Issuing common stock can also help attract more investors for a public company or even improve the Company's credit rating.
It also needs to start filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and adhere to their rules, which is a "good thing". It forces the organization to make almost every decision and event of itself public.
It is partly the reason why the above information is even publicly accessible. The key point here, however, is that after sequencing an "antivirus" within a single day and getting award funding within five days, the Corporation can start collecting investments! The doors open for the public to start investing in the Company, which translates into massive amounts of money based on stock fluctuations that (as is widely known) are often influenced by speculations. It is not a surprise that the Moderna Stock (NASDAQ: MRNA) is now 14 times higher than it was in January 2020. In other words, it increased by 1430%. If you invested just 100K USD in January 2020, now that would be almost one and a half million USD.
Two weeks later, on February 24 2020, Moderna officially started Phase 1 of Clinical Tests for mRNA-1273 (Original page deleted around December 2021).
One of the first countries to take COVID "seriously" was Vietnam, initiating a nationwide lockdown and closing its borders for international, non-essential travel in early March 2020. The World, amongst which the WHO, is outraged and does not endorse this decision. The WHO even issued a statement, that nationwide lockdowns and border closures will "hurt the economy" and "not avoid the Virus from spreading" earlier that year; consult the official documentation by the WHO here.
Let's again step back a moment and reflect on these facts:
- The World discovers a novel virus; its genome is isolated and shared with the global community.
- The very same day, a corporation can sequence an antivirus.
- Within a month, it enters clinical trials of the new vaccine and initializes its IPO
- At the same time, and for many months to come, the WHO seems to be doing everything possible to stop countries from combatting the Virus' spread!
WHO: Aiding the Spread of COVID?
It's a curious observation, though not necessarily indicative of anything sinister, that the WHO seemed more concerned about financial implications than health outcomes. The surge in COVID cases occurred after the WHO had lobbied against global lockdowns. This surge in cases made the COVID vaccines mandatory and highly profitable.
The virus spread almost unchecked until it exploded towards the end of 2020. As we will see later, this surge in COVID cases coincided with the rollout of the first vaccine batches. While the vaccine does not provoke COVID, it is likely that it contributed to the massive surge in cases we saw in late 2020 and early 2021.
A proper response, including travel restrictions and lockdowns, was later adopted by almost all governments and has proven to be the only practical and successful approach to contain the virus's spread, along with common sense hygiene standards.
Operation Warp Speed: "Now We Talk Business"
Continuing with our timeline, on May 12, 2020, Moderna announced the successful completion of phase 1 of the clinical trials of mRNA-1273. Just three days later, on May 15, the U.S. Government launched Operation Warp Speed, a federal effort that supported multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates to speed up development.
Six corporations received 20 billion U.S. dollars over time to produce a vaccine against COVID-19. Moderna alone received over 5 billion U.S. dollars. This is a 5 with nine zeros: 5,000,000,000 USD for one corporation alone. A corporation that had just had its IPO, allowing the public to invest. It is probably not surprising to the reader that Operation Warp Speed was partially state-funded. What might be less well known is that Operation Warp Speed's first Head was Moncef Slaoui.
If you're not familiar with Moncef Slaoui, just before he became Head of Operation Warp Speed (OWS), he was a member of the board of directors of Moderna. This pattern, known as the "Revolving Door", is not new.
We also won't comment on our opinion on Slaoui's stocks held in other OWS beneficiaries such as GlaxoSmithKline and, unsurprisingly, stockholdings in Moderna.
The Unintended Consequence: Vaccine Centers as Infection Hubs
As the world raced to vaccinate its population, an unintended consequence emerged. Vaccine centers, where thousands, even millions of people gathered, often for hours, became inadvertent hubs for the virus. The very places designed to protect people from the virus may have inadvertently facilitated its spread. This is not to suggest that the vaccines themselves were spreading the virus, but rather the mass gatherings at vaccination centers may have contributed to the surge in cases.
And, of course, more vaccines where required to combat this even higher surge in infections. Swab nr.2, 3, and even 4 where and are suggested.
The Global Network of Profit
While the world grappled with the health crisis, a global network of profit emerged. This network ranged from pharmaceutical companies to packaging and transport firms, testing paraphrenalia producers, and more. Several key players emerged in this network.
Eli Lilly, Biomerieux, Qiagen, Moderna, Lonza, Biontech, Glaxosmithkline, Pfitzer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, all major players in the biotechnology sector, also played significant roles in the testing and production of the vaccines. These are the corporations that cashed thanks to the Covid Pandemic.
Moreover, all these corporations do have a very limited set of "common denominators". People who have connections to all or most of these organizations, and certainly helped leverage, outsurce and played connections during the "urgency" of Covid.
- Stéphane Bancel, currently the CEO of Moderna. He was the Executive Director of Global Manufacturing Strategy at Eli Lilly & Co. He served as a member of the board of directors for Qiagen N.V. and was the Asia-Pacific Sales and Marketing Director for bioMérieux. These roles place him at the intersection of these companies, potentially influencing their strategies and operations.
- Moncef Slaoui, was a member of the board of directors at Lonza (he conveniently resigned from Lonza's board before joining Operation Warp Speed). He headed the vaccine division and held other positions at Glaksonsmithkline for years. He was was a member of Moderna's board of directors, from which he conveniently resigned before being appointed as the chief advisor of Operation Warp Speed. We won't dvelwe into the tasks of an advisore... which amongst other things might include suggestions about from whom, to whom and when or where to buy, sell and sponsor.
- Scott Gottlieb, former FDA Commissioner, joined Pfizer's Board of Directors. He conveniently resigned from the FDA position in 2019, just before Covid reached the world.
- Jay Bolden, a Senior Consultant Quality, Biologist, Global Quality Laboratories at Eli Lilly, was mentioned in a press release by Lonza, along with Kevin Williams from bioMerieux. This suggests that these individuals may have collaborated or interacted in some capacity, potentially linking these companies together.
- David A. Kessler, succeeded Moncef Slaoui at the Operation Warp Speed, served as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from November 8, 1990, to February 28, 1997, Chief Science Officer of the White House COVID-19 Response Team. (Interesting how he was the one that made it possible to expedite Drug Approvals back in the '90s, which are a part of the cause of the Opioid Crisis. This entire debacle basically developed under his supervision.)
- Qiagen, a global provider of Sample to Insight solutions, saw an increased demand for its products used in coronavirus testing. The company's solutions are used to extract and process RNA from the virus, which is a crucial step in the testing process.
- bioMérieux, a multinational biotechnology company, also saw a surge in demand for its diagnostic products. The company offers a wide range of tests for various infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
- Lonza, a Swiss multinational, chemicals, and biotechnology company. Lonza partnered with Moderna to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine.
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): Although specific profit figures are not readily available, GSK, as a major pharmaceutical company, likely saw increased revenues due to the heightened demand for healthcare products and services during the pandemic.
- Moderna: Moderna has seen significant financial gains from the development and distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine. The company's stock price has skyrocketed, and it has generated billions in revenue from vaccine sales.
- Pfizer, in partnership with BioNTech, developed one of the first COVID-19 vaccines to receive emergency use authorization. The vaccine has generated billions in revenue for the company.
- While the FDA is a US-government agency and does not generate profits, it has played a crucial role in the COVID-19 response by providing emergency use authorizations for vaccines and treatments, thereby facilitating their rapid deployment.
- BlackRock and Baillie Grifford, two big private independent investment management firms, both massively invested into all aforementioned companies.
We have a clear pattern of Money Flow from the Government(s) public funds and some semi-private or private funds (minor contributons) towards corporations, in which large investment firms "bet" their money in. All that, with a clear pattern of Revolving Doors, meaning, former or future Corporate Figures, where future or former Governement and Public Health figures holding the keys to the cash, which transitioned from the people into Corporations and then towards big Whales who hide behind "independent" investment firms - and could very well be the very same people.
Was the Covid crisis a well seized opportunity? The biggest heist of history? Or is it just all coincidence?