Irresponsible Science Peter Thiel Funds Unethical Offshore Herpes Vaccine Trail

http://www.thedailybeast.com/peter-thiel-funds-unethical-offshore-herpes-vaccine-trial

 

http://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Investigation-launched-into-offshore-herpes-trial-12164704.php

Investigation launched into offshore herpes vaccine trial backed by Peter Thiel, others

 

The government of St. Kitts and Nevis has launched an investigation into the clinical trial for a herpes vaccine by an American company because it said its officials were not notified about the experiments.


The vaccine research has sparked controversy because the lead investigator, a professor with Southern Illinois University, and the U.S. company he co-founded did not rely on traditional U.S. safety oversight while testing the vaccine last year on mostly American participants on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.


The trial received financial backing from a former Hollywood filmmaker who has asserted the vaccine was highly successful in stopping herpes outbreaks. Since then, a group of investors, including Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel, have backed the ongoing vaccine research with a $7 million investment that could include additional clinical trials in Mexico and Australia.


Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor a safety panel known as an institutional review board, or an “IRB,” monitored the testing on the 20 human subjects. Now, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis says that the researchers also did not officially seek permission to test the vaccine, which took place from April to August 2016.

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