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Pfizer-BioNTech tried to gouge the EU with $65 vaccine doses,
German media report
19 Feb, 2021 18:47
FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of the Pfizer logo in this illustration taken February 9, 2021 © Reuters / Dado Ruvic
Drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech wanted to charge the EU Commission €54.08 per dose of their Coronavirus vaccine, according to German media reports. The jab would have cost more than 20 times that of a rival shot from AstraZeneca.
The prospective price tag was revealed on Thursday by German broadcasters NDR and WDR, and the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The paper claims that Pfizer and BioNTech submitted a bid to the EU offering 500 million doses at €54.08 ($65.58) per dose, for a total cost of €27 billion ($32.74 billion).
At €54.08, the BioNTech vaccine would have cost more than 20 times as much as the rival vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and 500 million doses would have cost the EU €3 billion more than the annual GDP of Iceland. In comparison, Russia’s ‘Sputnik V’ vaccine was expected to be priced at no more than $10 (€8.26), according to its backers.
“I see it as a pursuit of profit that is in no way justified in the current situation of the pandemic,” Wolf Dieter Ludwig, drug chairman of the German Medical Association, told the newspaper.
Come on, Wolf, it's a pandemic, they can charge whatever they want.
Pfizer-BioNTech has made no profit on the sale of vaccines, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung, and during negotiations last year reportedly told EU officials that the €54.08 price tag already included “the highest percentage discount” offered to any developed country.
So, does that mean other countries are paying even more?
The final cost per dose of the vaccine is still unknown, though a document leaked by Belgian MP Eva De Bleeker in December suggested that Pfizer-BioNTech had been bargained down to €12 ($14.55). Reuters later stated that it had reviewed documents showing the price at €15.50 ($18.79) per dose, “slightly lower than the $19.50 per shot the United States agreed to pay for a first shipment of 100 million doses of the same vaccine.”
The European Commission has thus far secured 600 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 460 million Moderna shots, and 400 million AstraZeneca doses. A further 1.1 billion doses of vaccines by other manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and CureVac, have been reserved, but these vaccines are still under development or evaluation.
Individual countries have set their sights further afield, however: Hungary last week became the first EU country to start administering Russia’s ‘Sputnik V’, and will soon deploy China’s Sinovac shot too. The Czech Republic is also considering buying the Russian vaccine, should it be approved by EU regulators.
Pfizer revises ultra-cold storage guidance for Covid-19 jab, says vaccine is stable at refrigerator temperatures
19 Feb, 2021 14:21
(FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
Vaccine partners Pfizer and BioNTech have said they’ve submitted new data to the US health regulator showing their jab can be stored at “refrigerator temperatures” rather than the ultra-cold levels currently mandated.
In a statement on Friday, the pair claim that their jointly developed Covid-19 vaccine can actually be stored safely between -25ºC and -15ºC – a substantial change from the -80ºC and -60ºC temperatures previously thought necessary.
BioNTech-Pfizer is now telling its customers that they only need 1 shot, not 2.
How much does that affect the efficacy rate? It seems obvious that competition is heating up in Big Pharma Covid-19 vaccine industry.
The companies said they have shared their new data with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “If approved, this new storage option would offer pharmacies and vaccination centers greater flexibility in how they manage their vaccine supply,” said Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer.
Under current guidance, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine must be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, and the extreme requirement has impacted the jab’s usage in many countries around the world, as the necessary cold-chain capability is not universally available.
In early November, Pfizer’s jab became the first Covid-19 vaccine candidate to release its complete phase three trial data. The shot is now widely used around the world.
The company has vowed to help deliver doses to poorer nations, but UNICEF has warned that many countries face challenges storing the solution at such ultra-cold temperatures and quickly administering the shots once they arrive.
France advises AstraZeneca vaccine only for those under 65
The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, February 2, 2021 3:34PM EST
This July 18, 2020, file photo, shows the AstraZeneca offices in Cambridge, England. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
PARIS -- France's top health advisory body is recommending that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine only be used on people under 65, citing lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people.
The decision could shake up the French vaccination strategy, because the country has prioritized nursing home residents and people over 75. France had counted on the AstraZeneca vaccine for a large part of its upcoming inoculations, until the company announced delays affecting countries around Europe and the world.
The French guidance differs from that given by the European Medicines Agency, which authorized AstraZeneca's vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
Health authorities in Germany and other countries have raised concerns that the Anglo-Swedish company didn't test the vaccine in enough older people to prove it works for them, and indicated they would not recommend it for people over 65.
By not having a full complement of seniors in the test sample, the efficacy rate would be exaggerated.
Sweden, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, also limit Astra Zeneca shots to under 65s. All these European countries have rejected A-Z for seniors, yet the EU continues to approve it, unrestricted. Don't suppose something nefarious is occurring?
It is alarming that most countries in the world are racing to vaccinate over 65s with anything they can find, while A-Z may be worse than useless for this demographic.
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