Controversial flu expert receives 1 million euro grant

World renowned virologist Ab Osterhaus on Tuesday received a 1 million euro government grant for the very talent he is controversial for: combining business and academic research.

Osterhaus is the most famous expert on the H1N1 virus in the Netherlands and he is often quoted warning against a full-blown flu epidemic. But he is also a shareholder in ViroClinics, a company that helps develop vaccines against the virus.

He came under fire last month because of a potential conflict of interests. Osterhaus sits on the Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) that advised the Dutch government to purchase 34 million vaccines against the Mexican or swine flu – the very vaccines Osterhaus helped develop.

On Tuesday, Osterhaus was awarded the NGI Valorisation Award from the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI). His work was applauded as "an outstanding example" of creating benefits "through partnerships with leading national and international companies and governments". NGI is funded by six Dutch ministries.

"It's a lot of money," said Osterhaus, who promised to use all of it to further his research.

Osterhaus is a professor at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam and a 10 percent shareholder in ViroClinics, of which he is the founder and chief scientific officer. Erasmus owns the majority of the shares. The NGI prize was in fact awarded to a consortium of four universities and three companies, dubbed VIRGO, but the grant will be at the disposal of the team in Rotterdam.

Osterhaus has been the go-to expert for Dutch media on all virus-related issues for years. Since the H1N1 first made headlines, he has issued strong warnings against its dangers. At the same time he advised health minister Ab Klink on vaccination and he ran a company testing the vaccines. He is also an advisor to one of the vaccines' suppliers, Novartis.

When the rumours about a conflict of interest surfaced last month, minister Klink informed parliament that Osterhaus was not a member of the Health Council, but an advisor without voting rights. Osterhaus said there was "no direct relationship" between his activities and that he had always been transparent about all of them. "I do not benefit from the Mexican flu", he told press agency ANP.

The Netherlands ordered enough H1N1 shots to vaccinate its entire population twice. In August, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) scaled down the alert to a 'normal flu', but by then it was too late to cancel the 200 million euro order. Vaccination of at-risk groups are set to begin early next month.