Moderna has come under fire after DailyMail.com revealed firm plans to raise the price of its taxpayer-funded Covid injection.
The company’s CEO told this website that it will charge up to $130 for the survey – which costs just $2 to make – when the government contract expires later this year.
Moderna said it was in direct response to rival Pfizer’s similarly large price increase announced late last year. But the move is seen as a double whammy for Americans because, unlike Pfizer, Moderna benefited from more than $2 billion in tax-funded aid to develop its shot.
Julia Kosgei, political leader of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “The sheer greed is obscene. Billions of taxpayers’ money went into the development of mRNA vaccines. This vaccine is not just from Moderna.”
Moderna has come under fire after DailyMail.com revealed firm plans to raise the price of its taxpayer-funded Covid shot
She added: “It was developed in collaboration with a government agency based on decades of government-funded research.
“This is the vaccine for the people – and it must be available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.”
Democrats accuse Pfizer of “sheer and deadly greed” over plan to quadruple cost of its Covid injection next year
Democrats have attacked Pfizer over its plan to quadruple the price of its Covid shot next year – describing the company as “pure and deadly greed”.
Americans could get a free Covid-19 shot if they qualified, thanks to buy-back agreements between the federal government and vaccine makers including Moderna and Pfizer.
Since both companies launched their vaccines in late 2020, the US government has obtained more than a billion doses.
But federal supplies and money to buy more are drying up, and a dead Congress has shown little interest in replenishing dwindling funds.
That means uninsured Americans who need a Covid vaccination will soon be forced to pay the commercial price.
Mr Bancel did not disclose the final price per dose, but told DailyMail.com the company would mirror the prices of rival Pfizer, whose vaccine was first to the US market with partner BioNTech.
Mr Bancel told DailyMail.com: “When we secured the first deal with the US, we made them an offer [with] a big discount… “It’s $26 in the US right now. That was the discount price, it’s going up. Pfizer said they would cost it between $110 and $130.
“We want to be the same ballpark.”
Pfizer drew sharp criticism last fall when it announced plans to raise the retail price of its mRNA vaccine. The company has drawn ire in Washington from progressive lawmakers such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Moderna’s mRNA vaccine was one of the first to hit the US market in late 2020 and was developed with federal funding
Sen. Sanders said: “Enough is enough. The COVID vaccine should cost $0. Pfizer’s greed is killing people all over the world.”
Sen. Warren, meanwhile, said it “reeks of corruption” and is a sign that “Big Pharma” and top federal agencies are in too close contact.
The Covid shots are free thanks to Operation Warp Speed, a multibillion-dollar vaccine and treatment research initiative spearheaded by the former Trump administration in April 2020. OWS helped take Moderna’s vaccine across the regulatory finish line.
Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotech startup, has signed several contracts with the federal government totaling more than $2.4 billion to provide the government with hundreds of millions of doses during the first year of the pandemic.
As that supply dwindles, Moderna will be forced to work directly with insurance companies to establish a new pricing model that ensures those with health insurance don’t have to pay anything out of pocket. But people without coverage will be less fortunate.
Despite the high list price, falling demand means Moderna is unlikely to make the same financial gains as in the first two years of the pandemic, when vaccine needs were greatest.
The mRNA vaccine filler reported sales of about $18.4 billion last year, compared to total sales of $17.7 billion in 2021. However, sales in 2023 are expected to be much more modest, fail. Moderna predicted on Monday that sales of the vaccine would reach about $5 billion by 2023.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
