Several social media users are sharing screenshot of a Tweet which has Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla’s photograph while he is speaking at the World Economic Forum.
The image is being shared with a caption: “Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Pfizer’s new “ingestible pills” – a pill with a tiny chip that sends a wireless signal to relevant authorities when the pharmaceutical has been digested. “Imagine the compliance,” he says.”
The post’s text insinuates that Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment pill will contain a microchip which can transmit information once swallowed.
The link to the post can be seen here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile did a fact-check and found the claim to be fake.
On putting the picture through Google Reverse Image Search, we found a video published on the YouTube channel of the World Economic Forum on January 25, 2018, with a caption that read, “From ingestible sensors and AI-assisted doctors to healthcare that is affordable and accessible to all, how are technologies shaping the future of healthcare?”
In the above video, at around 45:28 timestamp, a question is asked by an audience member, who asks, “Even if you make the greatest drug in the world, there is no guarantee that the patient will take the drug. How does the panel think in terms of engaging the patient?”
To this Bourla replies, “It’s fascinating what’s happening in this field right now. FDA approved the first electronic pill if I can call it that. It is basically a biological chip that is in the tablet and once you take the tablet, it dissolves into your stomach, sending a signal that you took the tablet. So imagine the implications of that, the compliance.”
Since the video was recorded in 2018, long before the detection of the first case of COVID-19 on December 31, 2019, in China, we can ascertain that the viral video is old.
We also checked for digital pills and found a press release by the United States Food and Drugs Administration published on November 13, 2017. The press release read, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first drug in the U.S. with a digital ingestion tracking system. Abilify MyCite (aripiprazole tablets with sensor) has an ingestible sensor embedded in the pill that records that the medication was taken. The product is approved for the treatment of schizophrenia, acute treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder and for use as an add-on treatment for depression in adults.”
Although Bourla does not specify Abilify MyCite, he says “digital ingestion tracking system” which refers to the same.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is fake.
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