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Pfizer Inc rises the most in seven months after revealing plans to charge between $110 and $130 per single-dose vial of its Covid-19 vaccine, showing how the company intends to shift its strategy when bringing the blockbuster product to the commercial market.
The US government will stop purchasing Covid-19 vaccines and distributing the shots to Americans for free as soon as January, prompting pharmaceutical companies involved in the pandemic response to set new commercial prices.
The New York-based drug giant has deliberated the commercial strategy for its Covid vaccine, Comirnaty, since the early days of the pandemic. In Pfizer’s first contract with the US, the government paid $19.50 per dose. Since then, the price around the world has fluctuated based on the supply agreement, though Americans haven’t been left with any out-of-pocket costs.
Pfizer executive Angela Lukin said even at this price, the vaccine is “well below†typical cost for similar vaccines. For example, Pfizer’s best-selling pneumococcal vaccine franchise Prevnar has a commercial market price upwards of $200 per dose.
Following the market shift, anyone eligible in the US for Covid vaccination with commercial or government insurance would likely still be able to receive the vaccine with no out-of-pocket payment, she said.
In July 2020, while the vaccine was still in clinical trials, Pfizer Chief Executive Office Albert Bourla told Bloomberg News that the company would set a higher price for its vaccine when it had shifted away from a government-managed “pandemic phase†to a “commercial phase†in which the vaccine was distributed annually or bi-annually.
—Bloomberg