What — if anything — does the Project Veritas COVID-19 mutation video mean for Pfizer?

Days ahead of releasing its Q4 2022 earnings, Pfizer finds itself at the center of an unusual controversy started by a nearly 10-minute online video.

Project Veritas, a right-wing activist group, released an undercover video on Tuesday featuring an alleged Pfizer executive saying that the drugmaker is exploring ways to mutate the virus that causes COVID-19.

Jordon Trishton Walker, identified as director of research and development for strategic operations and mRNA scientific planning at Pfizer, said in the video that the drugmaker is looking at mutating the virus to preempt the development of future vaccines, adding that the company’s ambitions are similar to gain-of-function research.

In the video, Walker also discussed the similarities between what Pfizer is alleged to be doing with the COVID-19 virus and what may have occurred at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, leading to a conversation about the so-called “lab leak theory” of the pandemic’s origin in China in late 2019.

Additionally, Walker claimed that COVID-19 and its variants have been a “cash cow” for Pfizer and alluded to a cozy relationship between the company and federal health regulators. 

The video went viral this week, receiving more than 750,000 views on YouTube and fueling a firestorm in conservative media circles. Fox News host Tucker Carlson dedicated time on his show Thursday night to discuss the video and authored an op-ed on Fox News’ website elaborating on the allegations in greater detail.

Additionally, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) issued a public letter to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Thursday, questioning whether the company is currently mutating the virus or is planning to do so, while voicing his concerns with the video’s claims.

“As a company that claims to ‘innovate every day to make the world a healthier place,’ these claims from your leadership charged with research and development are alarming,” Rubio wrote.

Pfizer did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s worth noting that Project Veritas, while claiming to conduct investigative journalism, has a lengthy history of using ethically dubious tactics and deceptively editing videos to fit a conservative narrative. 

Thus the controversy begs a simple question: What does all of this mean for Pfizer? 

How is a pharma brand supposed to act when a piece of questionable material surfaces and a significant portion of the population is predisposed to believe, without prejudice, that a pharma company would mutate a lethal virus for profit?

Gil Bashe, managing partner, chair global health and purpose at Finn Partners, said “the power of now” is a double-edged sword for health innovators.

Bashe said that there has been considerable conversation around how the pandemic began and how quickly the subsequent vaccines were developed through Operation Warp Speed. He noted that while the rapid development and distribution of multiple COVID-19 vaccines was a significant achievement in medical innovation, there were bound to be questions from skeptics in the general public.

Bashe added that videos of this kind, featuring the voices of individuals with “either knowledge or a desire for 15 minutes of fame,” only further contribute to the pandemic of confusion. 

“Sadly, this video is endemic to a society that needs immediate medical solutions to real public health threats. It opens the door to these sorts of news grabbers,” he said. “The media also relies on speed and speculation to attract audiences. This video — the yet unproven comments — are part of the public health risk we now all face. It’s the perfect storm of the desire for immediacy.”