Vaccine currently in phase 3 trials; company confident it will be available by the end of the year
FRIDAY, Aug. 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Moderna is charging $37 a dose for its experimental vaccine, which is far more than what other companies say they plan to charge for their vaccines, CBS News reported Wednesday. Because two doses of the vaccine are needed to immunize people from COVID-19, total costs could be $74 per person.
Moderna’s vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials, and the company is confident that the vaccine — its first commercial product — will be available by the end of the year.
Last week, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline signed a deal with the U.S. government to produce 100 million doses of a vaccine for about $10.50 each, according to calculations from analyst Mani Foroohar, M.D., of the brokerage firm SVB Leerink. Meanwhile, Pfizer has said it will price its vaccine at $19.50 per dose. In a conference call with analysts, Moderna executives said they have been charging between $32 and $37 for doses of the company’s vaccine. That is nearly 90 percent more than Pfizer is charging and triple the cost of the Sanofi-GSK vaccine, CBS News reported.
“We are working with governments around the world, and ours, to ensure the vaccine is accessible regardless of our ability to pay,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said during the call, CBS News reported. “And we will be responsible on price, well below value, during the pandemic.”
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