Pfizer eyes selling vaccine against COVID in US for no less than $110

Pfizer Inc. gave some details about its plans to sell the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with BioNTech SE on the commercial market in the US, saying it expects to price the shot at $110 to $130 per dose for adults, reported from The Wall Street Journal.

The drugmaker is still negotiating with health insurers, but anticipates the discussions will lead to a list price in the range, Angela Lukin, a Pfizer official, said.

She said the company planned to distribute the vaccine through the middlemen wholesalers that it typically uses for its products, and would also offer rebates off the list price like it usually does. The company also said it planned to package the vaccine in a single-dose vial, rather than the multi-dose vials used during the pandemic.

The details are the latest sign that preparations are under way for a transition to the typical commercial sales from US government purchases of the vaccine.

"As we head down this road, the good news is we have a lot of experience in this space,” said Lukin, Pfizer’s US president.

Pfizer said the earliest there could be a commercial rollout would be early next year, though that will depend on factors such as when its contracts with the federal government expire and when the existing US supply runs out.

The company expects that most people won’t have to pay anything out of pocket for the vaccine after commercial sales begin, Lukin said. Many health insurance plans cover the full cost of an annual flu shot, for instance, and people in the US have gotten Covid-19 vaccines at no cost to date during the pandemic.

Lukin said the commercial list price would take into account the value provided by the vaccine, along with manufacturing costs, including the added expense of single-dose vials.

The price of vaccines for adults varies widely, with some costing more than $200 while others are less than $100, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The US government paid $19.50 a dose for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine under the first contract for 100 million doses. Under the most recent supply deal, announced over the summer, the cost per dose was roughly $30.50.

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