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October 8, 2026
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Cleveland.com: “Vivek Ramaswamy ad contains 3 lies about his pharmaceutical record”
“Three claims in the ad are lies under the standard Cleveland.com is using for this fact-check: The claims are not supported by the facts or by the sources the ad cites as evidence.”
COLUMBUS, OH– Yesterday, Cleveland.com called out one of Vivek Ramaswamy’s latest ads for three lies about his pharmaceutical record. The ad is in direct response to claims about Ramaswamy’s failed effort to develop intepirdine, an Alzheimer’s drug. The ad falsely portrays Vivek Ramaswamy’s track record in the pharmaceutical industry and calls out several ways Ramaswamy’s ad is inaccurate.
READ: Vivek Ramaswamy ad contains 3 lies about his pharmaceutical record
- Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign is defending his pharmaceutical record in a new ad featuring a prostate-cancer patient, who accuses Democrat Amy Acton of lying about her gubernatorial opponent in the upcoming elections.
- Three claims in the ad are lies under the standard cleveland.com is using for this fact-check: The claims are not supported by the facts or by the sources the ad cites as evidence.
- The ad is a response to an attack by Acton about Ramaswamy’s failed effort to develop intepirdine, an Alzheimer’s drug.
- Here are the three lies in Ramaswamy’s ad:
- 1. “I know she’s lying about him because I lived the truth firsthand.”
- The prostate-cancer patient featured in Ramaswamy’s ad says his own experience proves Acton is lying about Ramaswamy’s pharmaceutical record.
- However, the Cleveland.com article displayed in the Ramaswamy ad makes clear that the Acton attack concerns intepirdine, Ramaswamy’s failed Alzheimer’s drug.
- The patient in this ad refers to his experience with a different medicine, which is never identified. He is likely talking about relugolix, a prostate-cancer drug developed partly by Ramaswamy’s Roivant Sciences.
- 2. “When Big Pharma overlooked a promising treatment, he took a risk.”
- The patient says pharmaceutical companies overlooked a promising prostate-cancer treatment before Ramaswamy took a chance on it.
- The Takeda Pharmaceutical Company had already tested relugolix in Phase 2 clinical trials before licensing the drug to Myovant Sciences, a company created in partnership with Roivant to continue its development.
- Takeda itself described relugolix as promising, which contradicts the claim that Big Pharma passed on it or that Ramaswamy discovered it afterwards.
- 3. “(Ramaswamy) got that medicine to patients like me.”
- Ramaswamy’s company played a role in advancing relugolix, but the ad overstates his involvement in getting it to patients.
- Roivant helped develop the drug through its involvement with Myovant before transferring its entire ownership interest to Sumitomo in 2019.
- The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug to be sold as Orgovyx for advanced prostate cancer in 2020, and it became available in the United States the following year.
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