According to a Wall Street Journal report, Moderna is considering increasing the price of its COVID-19 vaccine by more than 400%.
Ars has reached out to Moderna for comment, but has not yet received a response. The plan, if realized, would match previously announced price hikes for his COVID-19 vaccine, a rival to Pfizer and BioNtech.
The WSJ interviewed Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Monday, speaking of the 400% price increase.
To date, Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines have been purchased by the government and given free to Americans. The booster shots cost the government $26 per dose, up from $15 to $16 per dose in previous supply contracts, the journal notes. -Paid just over $30 per dose for Biontech’s vaccine, up from $19.50 per dose for the 2020 contract.
But now that the federal government has refrained from distributing vaccines, manufacturers are moving to commercial markets with price adjustments. Financial analysts had previously expected Pfizer to set a commercial price for the vaccine at just $50 per dose, but were surprised when Pfizer announced plans for a $110 to $130 price in October. Analysts then expected Pfizer’s price to boost Moderna and other vaccine makers, and that appears to be happening now.
Lawmakers have already criticized Pfizer for sharp price hikes. In a letter sent to Pfizer CEO Albert Borah last month, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont) said: called the price hike “pure and deadly greed” and accused the company of “unfair profiteering”.
“We recommend that you withdraw the proposed price increases and ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are reasonably priced and accessible to people across the United States,” they wrote.
The revelation that Moderna could match Pfizer’s price hike came a day after Moderna announced that its 2022 COVID-19 vaccine sales would total about $18.4 billion.
Moderna’s Bancel said in a press release on Monday, “We have tremendous momentum across our clinical pipeline, a very dynamic team and a strong balance sheet of over $18 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and we are looking forward to 2023. We will welcome the new year in a great position.
Moderna also expects COVID-19 vaccine sales to reach at least $5 billion in 2023, the release said.
