Pfizer has no plans to open a research and development center in Israel, a top-level spokeswoman for the company told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.
“I’ve checked internally and confirmed that we do not have plans for this,” a senior manager for corporate communications said. “It sounds like the talk around it has been coming from local politicians.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as early as mid-February that he was in dialogue with Pfizer and a second US vaccine developer, Moderna, to open plants in Israel.
“I am negotiating with them to build two plants in Israel that will turn Israel into an international center in the fight against coronavirus,” Netanyahu told Channel 12 in a late-night interview in the midst of his reelection campaign.
The Moderna factory would focus on “filling the small vaccine vials,” while Pfizer’s plant would serve as a “research and development site for the fight against future viruses,” he said.
Netanyahu reiterated his intention to open these plants multiple times leading up to the March 23 election.
Last month, Yeruham Mayor Tal Ohana told the Post she had been in touch with Moderna about manufacturing its vaccines in the southern city, but because there was no established plant, the company could not move forward with its plans.
“They said to come back in the future” about the idea, Ohana told the Post. “We have not closed the door on Moderna.”
Moderna was unable to respond with comment by press time.
Former Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer said he was on nearly all of the 30 calls between Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Netanyahu.
In a closed briefing he gave on March 24, a recording of which was obtained by the Post, Dermer confirmed that Netanyahu had managed to convince Bourla to provide Israel with the vaccines due to its sophisticated health database that dates back three decades.
“The medical database is a huge advantage, and the prime minister recognized it,” he said. “And he told Bourla about it early, and Bourla was able to convince Pfizer that Israel was a country to bet on. He bet on Israel, and he won his bet.”
Netanyahu spoke about how he could “turn Israel’s medical database into a huge asset for the country moving forward,” Dermer said. “We are a cyber power; people get that. We are becoming a power in artificial intelligence.”
“I think when it comes to our health database and turning Israel into a beta site for a lot of potential discoveries and vaccines and innovations in the medical field, Israel, I think, is really going to take off there,” he said.
Dermer declined to comment to the Post about Pfizer’s plans.
In addition, the Post reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office and Health Ministry for comment but has not yet received responses.