The vaccine against the dreadful coronavirus hasn’t even been discovered yet and pharmaceutical giants are already thinking about profits. Moderna Inc claimed on Wednesday that the price for smaller volumes of its experimental vaccine has been set at $31-37 per dose. This price is significantly higher than the price set by the U.S. deal for Pfizer Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine candidate.
The pricing for the coronavirus vaccines has faced some serious scrutiny as the world reaches closer to developing one. In fact, three coronavirus vaccines have also reached the stage of Phase-III of human trials. Moderna Inc. Chief, Stephane Bancel says that larger volumes of the vaccine will be sold at a significantly lower price. The $31-37 price tag is only applicable to smaller volumes.
For an experimental vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech SE, the U.S. government struck a deal to secure enough doses to inoculate 50 million Americans at a price of $40 per dose. A two-time dose for Moderna Inc’s vaccine will cost you between $64 to $74 per person. The Moderna coronavirus vaccine marks the first company product to make it to the U.S. market. The U.S. government has invested $1 billion dollars for the Moderna vaccine trial.
Moderna further claimed in the video conference on Wednesday that several countries have already placed an order for the vaccine. The company has received nearly $400 million in deposits for eventual vaccine supply. Moderna further claims that for the final phase of human trials, nearly 30,000 people have volunteered. The said trials will complete in September this year.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed nearly 700,000 lives worldwide and a potential vaccine is our only sword to combat it. Moderna is one of the few vaccine candidates to reach the final leg of the human trials. Moreover, the company claims that it will distribute the vaccine in such a way that it reaches every nook and cranny of the world.