Pfizer up after plans to charge US$130 per Covid shot

Pfizer Inc. rose the most in seven months after revealing plans to charge between US$110 and US$130 per single-dose vial of its Covid-19 vaccine, showing how the company intends to shift its strategy when bringing the blockbuster product to the commercial market. 

The US government will stop purchasing Covid-19 vaccines and distributing the shots to Americans for free as soon as January, prompting pharmaceutical companies involved in the pandemic response to set new commercial prices. 

The New York-based drug giant has deliberated the commercial strategy for its Covid vaccine, Comirnaty, since the early days of the pandemic. In Pfizer’s first contract with the US, the government paid US$19.50 per dose. Since then, the price around the world has fluctuated based on the supply agreement, though Americans haven’t been left with any out-of-pocket costs. 

Pfizer executive Angela Lukin said Thursday that even at this price, the vaccine is “well below” the typical cost for similar vaccines. For example, Pfizer’s best-selling pneumococcal vaccine franchise Prevnar has a commercial market price upwards of US$200 per dose.  

Following the market shift, anyone eligible in the US for Covid vaccination with commercial or government insurance would likely still be able to receive the vaccine with no out-of-pocket payment, she said. The transition of Covid products to the commercial market could leave the uninsured unable to access them. 

Pfizer’s shares rose as much as 4.9 percent Friday in New York, the biggest intraday gain since March. Moderna Inc. climbed as much as 10 percent. 

In July 2020, while the vaccine was still in clinical trials, Pfizer Chief Executive Office Albert Bourla told Bloomberg News in an interview that the company would set a higher price for its vaccine when it had shifted away from a government-managed “pandemic phase” to a “commercial phase” in which the vaccine was distributed annually or bi-annually. 

“This is not the normal business model,” Bourla said at the time. 

(Bloomberg)