Police Raid Offices of RFK Jr.-Endorsed Researchers Planning Vaccine Trial for 7,000 African Newborns

Judicial police in Guinea-Bissau raided the offices of researchers praised by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. and seized hepatitis B vaccine doses, escalating a dispute over a controversial clinical trial that would withhold the immunisation from 7,000 newborns during their first six weeks of life in a country where about one in five adults has the virus.

The raid took place on Monday as authorities investigated the circumstances surrounding the vaccine batch, according to a statement published by Guinea-Bissau's judicial police on Facebook.

The researchers, associated with the Bandim Health Project, have faced international scrutiny over the study, which has received $3.2 million in combined funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Pershing Square Foundation, and the Bluebell Foundation.

The police statement said the seizure was part of investigative procedures to clarify the circumstances surrounding the vaccines. It explicitly highlighted that the action did not indicate any irregularities in the vaccines' quality, safety, or effectiveness.

The raid adds to mounting uncertainty over a study that has drawn objections from the World Health Organization (WHO) and prompted conflicting statements about whether it will proceed.

Trial Would Withhold Hepatitis B Vaccine From 7,000 Newborns

The redesigned study would still leave 7,000 newborns without hepatitis B vaccination during the first six weeks after birth, according to a report from The Guardian. That period matters because hepatitis B can cause lifelong infection, liver failure, and cancer, and infection acquired in infancy carries a particularly high risk of becoming chronic.

The WHO has warned against any trial design that denies participants access to the vaccine. Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesperson, said withholding the immunisation would be unethical and expose newborns to serious, potentially irreversible harm.

Vaccination within 24 hours of birth is an established public health intervention that can substantially reduce the risk of infection. The WHO has backed the introduction of hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination in Guinea-Bissau, with its country office and partners advising the health ministry on implementation and the potential consequences of the proposed research.

Why RFK Jr.'s Support Has Drawn Attention

The researchers' work has become politically contentious in the US because of Kennedy's repeated praise for Peter Aaby and Christine Stabell Benn, who co-lead the Bandim Health Project.

Kennedy called them 'the deities of vaccine research' at a recent anti-vaccine conference, The Guardian reported. He has also cited their research into the effects of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine, including when arguing against established vaccination policies.

The researchers reportedly conducted a subsequent study examining DTP-related findings that produced different results. That history has added to the scrutiny of how their findings are interpreted and applied to broader vaccine policy.

Kennedy also described Aaby as a 'very famous' researcher on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2023. He has cited Aaby's work in discussions surrounding his decision to halt US funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Stabell Benn was a member of the hepatitis B working group of the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), helping present evidence to the committee before it voted to end the universal recommendation for a hepatitis B birth dose. Implementation of the relevant vaccine-policy decisions was subsequently stayed by a federal judge, according to media reports.

Guinea-Bissau Government Disputes Claims Trial Will Proceed

Guinea-Bissau's judicial police said the search was part of investigative procedures to establish the circumstances surrounding the batch of hepatitis B vaccines, but did not specify what prompted the investigation. The investigation comes amid a wider dispute over the proposed trial, with the government disputing claims that it will proceed.

Quinhin Nantote, health minister in Guinea-Bissau's transitional government, rejected reports that the study would move forward. 'This is not even remotely true,' Nantote told The Guardian recently.

The Bandim Health Project subsequently published a letter showing approval from Guinea-Bissau's national ethics committee under the Ministry of Public Health. The document was signed by committee president Mouhammed Djicó Ould Ahmed.

Elsewhere, a Danish research ethics committee also approved the study earlier in October after changing its rules to allow it to consider the proposed clinical trial, according to a media outlet.

Those decisions do not, on their own, establish that all necessary government authorisations and regulatory permissions have been granted. The health minister's public denial and the project's publication of an ethics approval document point to a contested process whose current status remains unclear.