COVID start-up based in GOP donor’s luxury condo could get millions from U.S.

An obscure South Carolina company may be on the line for millions of dollars in US government funding to produce coronavirus treatment after a former Republican senator with a financial stake in the business put pressure on senior U.S. government officials, the Associated Press reports.

Plasma Technologies LLC, has received initial funding to test a possible blood plasma technology to combat COVID-19. But up to $ 65 million could be on the way, an unexpected one for the company operating from the founder’s luxury condominium, according to internal government records and other documents obtained by the Associated Press.

The story of how a small business that only exists on paper has managed to capture so much top-notch attention is emblematic of the Frantic response from the Trump administration to the coronavirus pandemic.

And it is another of a number of contracts awarded despite concerns over their proposals expressed by government scientists. The others include a $ 21 million study on Pepcid for acidity as a COVID therapy, and more than $ 500 million on ApiJect Systems America, a startup with unapproved drug technology factory to manufacture the devices. In addition, a government complainant claimed that a $ 1.6 billion vaccine contract was entered into with Novavax Inc. by objections of the scientific staff of the government.

At the heart of these offers is Dr. Robert Kadlec, a senior Trump official in the Department of Health and Human Services, who supported the Pepcid, Novavax and ApiJect projects. Records obtained by the AP also describe Kadlec as a key proponent of Plasma Tech, owned by Eugene Zurlo, a former pharmaceutical industry executive and well-connected Republican donor. Three years ago, Zurlo brought Rick Santorum, who spent 12 years as a Pennsylvania GOP senator, on board as a co-owner.

Kadlec has been pressured by the White House to act more urgently and not be tied to lower-level scientific officials whom Trump has punished as a “deep state” and accused of politically motivated delays in introducing vaccines and remedies against COVID-19.

The PA contacted more than a dozen leaders in the blood plasma industry and medical experts. Few had heard of Zurlo’s company or its technology to convert human plasma into protein-rich antibody therapies, and did not comment.

Zurlo said in an email that the plasma shortage of patients recovering with COVID-19, which is needed to do these therapies, underscores the need for the technology he has patented to collect as many of these proteins as possible.

Rick Santorum intensifies sales discourse

In early April, shortly after Congress provided hundreds of billions of dollars to fight the pandemic, Santorum stepped up its sales argument for Plasma Technologies and the process the company has described as “disruptive and transformative.” , according to records.

In mid-August, the federal government awarded Plasma Technologies a $ 750,000 grant to prove it could deliver on its promises.

HHS did not comment when asked if Santorum’s public support for the president helped the company, which has a financial stake, get a government contract.

Santorum told the AP it would have been a “crime” if it had not used its influence to recognize Plasma Technologies. “I’m ashamed if I hadn’t done it,” Santorum said, while ridiculing the industry that makes plasma products focus more on profits than on technological advances.

Plasma Technologies appeared to be up and running in 2014 after the company licensed its system to a Dallas-based business, according to financial records submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But three years later, the deal ended abruptly without producing any Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy.

Santorum told the AP that he communicated directly with Kadlec, whom he described as “very supportive” of Plasma Technologies. An HHS spokesman said Kadlec “has no role in the technical review of proposals or the negotiation of contracts.”

Santorum’s initial launch at HHS failed to draw traction among its experts, who did not see Zurlo’s technology as worth millions in emergency funding for a pandemic, according to emails and Rick Bright, former director of the HHS Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority. Kadlec oversees the agency, known as BARDA.

BARDA experts looked for vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 that could be delivered quickly, and the Plasma Technologies project was a long-term endeavor. “They weren’t excited,” recalled Bright, a vaccine expert who has been very critical of Kadlec’s tenure at HHS and filed a complaint in May.

The Pentagon shows interest

Plasma Technologies then addressed the Department of Defense, which was also heavily involved in the government’s response to COVID-19. The AP obtained a copy of the company’s May 28 proposal, which sought $ 51.6 million to build a plasma fractionation facility in Raleigh, North Carolina or Atlanta, where the plant is located. headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In late July, Plasma Technologies’ fortunes began to change. Steven Morani, a senior Pentagon official who helps oversee the maintenance of billions of dollars in military equipment, had talked to other military leaders. They were drawn to the idea of ​​a U.S.-owned and operated facility for plasma-based therapies.

HHS would eventually support the initial $ 750,000 grant, according to government emails, with up to $ 65 million in government money for a commercial facility. This is more than Plasma Technologies had asked for. The messages do not say where the extra money came from or why it was needed.

Morani referred AP questions about the contract to Defense Department spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell, who declined to discuss future funding for Plasma Technologies.

Santorum, who criticized a journalist for writing what he called a “piece of political success,” said Zurlo intends to donate the profits generated by Plasma Technologies to charities that support the Catholic Church.

But Santorum had different plans for any financial return. “I haven’t made those claims as a father of seven who has three weddings this year,” she said. “If money came in, I would welcome them to help me pay my bills.”

In:
• Donald Trump presidency
• COVID-19[feminine]