The Hill: Moderna to charge $32 to $37 a dose for its COVID vaccine
Moderna will charge between $32 and $37 a dose for its experimental coronavirus vaccine for some "low volume" customers, the company's CEO said Wednesday. With the likelihood of two doses needed, that could be almost $80 per course of treatment.
The company will be using a tiered pricing system, and will charge less for higher volume orders. The company considers a small order to be "in the millions" of doses, chief executive Stéphane Bancel said on a conference call to discuss the company's quarterly earnings.
Pandemic vs. Endemic: Bancel said the company will be charging "well below value" during the pandemic, but will follow market pricing once the virus is under control and considered endemic.
The company is working with governments around the world and others "to ensure a vaccine is accessible regardless of ability to pay," he said.
The controversy: Moderna's vaccine research is 100 percent taxpayer funded to the tune of nearly $1 billion, but will charge the U.S. government close to 50 percent more than Pfizer, which will only get government money for distribution, not development.
Pfizer recently came under fire for saying it will charge about $20 per dose. Needless to say, lawmakers and drug pricing advocates are not thrilled with Moderna.
"Industry political power combined with fear is driving extraordinary spending: billions for unproven products with no meaningful restraint on the prices Americans are charged. Taxpayers are the angel investors, yet, even when we pay for the entire cost of developing a pharmaceutical, manufacturers charge whatever they want. As any other investor would demand, we should have a stake in the outcome—and protection from paying and paying again, as taxpayer and as patient," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas).