United States prosecutes after newspaper investigation of VaxGen and AidsVax
Documents obtained in 1999 by Brian Deer during his Sunday Times investigation, The VaxGen Experiment, of California Aids vaccine company, VaxGen Inc, resulted in federal prosection of Dr William Heyward, who as HIV vaccine chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cheer-led for VaxGen's technology and arranged federal grants for its controversial product whilst secretly engaged to join the company. To minimize the potential for damage to the AidsVax trial, Deer did not disclose information about the prosecution until the trial concluded in November 2002. Below is the 2002 annual report from the US Office of Government Ethics. Unrelated federal prosecutions are grayed in the document
2. United States v. William L. Heyward -- Dr. Heyward was the HIV Vaccine Coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) until December 1999. While employed by CDC, Dr. Heyward made recommendations about, and participated in the negotiations of, the terms of CDC’s collaboration with a private company, VaxGen, Inc. At some point during the negotiations, Dr. Heyward began negotiating for post-retirement employment with VaxGen. The Government maintained that Dr. Heyward’s conduct violated 18 U.S.C. § 208 for participating personally and substantially as a Government employee in a particular matter in which, to his knowledge, an organization with whom he was negotiating prospective employment has a financial interest. Pursuant to a settlement agreement dated February 5, 2001, Dr. Heyward paid the Government $32,500, and the Government agreed not to proceed criminally on the alleged violations under 18 U.S.C. § 208.
Prosecution handled by the Northern District of Georgia.
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