Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer wants to significantly increase the price of its corona vaccine. As general manager Angela Lukin announced Friday night, the US group is considering raising costs to $110 to $130 per dose. The current purchase agreement with the US government is expiring and the US is currently paying about $30 per dose to Pfizer and its German partner Biontech. The intended new price would therefore be a fourfold increase.
The market is expected to transition to private insurance in 2023 after the US public health emergency ends. It is not yet clear how people without health insurance will then gain access to the vaccine.
Demand is falling and expected to level off at flu shot level
The targeted price increase is also related to the sharp drop in demand for corona vaccinations. Pfizer expects the future market to be about the same size as that for the annual flu shot. About 14.8 million people in the United States have been vaccinated with the vaccine modified for the omicron variant in the past six weeks. In the same period last year, there were more than 22 million people, although at that time only the elderly and people with weakened immune systems were approved for the third vaccination.
EU currently pays 20 euros per dose
Biontech and Pfizer originally offered their vaccine for a price of 15 to 30 euros. According to media reports, the European Union paid a unit price of €20 last year under a contract to buy up to 1.8 billion cans by 2023.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
