Covid-19: Estimated Sales Prices of Most Advanced Vaccines Begin to Appear

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Seven months after the start of the pandemic, pharmaceutical companies – often backed by large laboratories and educational institutions – are in the process of developing an immunizing agent to neutralize Covid-19.

Currently, there are twelve vaccines in the most advanced development stage (the third phase). Two of them, developed by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson companies, have already shown preliminary results of trials in volunteers that point to 94.5 and 90 percent efficacy, respectively.

Despite the large governmental investments planned for the vaccines, the prices to be charged for the sale of these drugs have not yet been fully settled, but there are initial figures. Moderna biotechnology company, for instance, announced that the doses would cost between US$32 and US$37 (R$171 and R$197 at the current rate).

Another recently known price was for the vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Science in partnership with the Butantan Institute, in São Paulo. In a letter signed (and then suspended) by Minister of Health Eduardo Pazuello, the price set for each of the 46 million doses quoted was US$10.30 (R$55).

It is worth recalling that faced with the health emergency, at least AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, the front of immunization trials, committed to not profit in providing the vaccine throughout the pandemic. However, according to the Financial Times, AstraZeneca’s vaccine doses were sold for between US$3 and US$4 (R$16 and R$21) to the European Union.

In an interview with France Inter radio, a senior executive at Sanofi said the immunizer developed in partnership with GSK, which is still in the 1/2 trial phases, will cost less than US$10. Pfizer and BioNTec have signed a US$1.95 billion contract with the United States to supply 100 million doses of their candidate vaccine based on mRNA, which is equivalent to a cost of US$19.50 for each unit.

The vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, which has just reached phase 3 clinical trials, will cost an average of US$10 in the agreement with the American government. The administration regime under assessment is the only one, so far, that provides only one dose. The Novavax biotechnology startup immunizer, has a cost of approximately US$16 per dose for the United States.

To a Chinese newspaper, Sinopharm state-owned pharmaceutical company CEO Liu Jingzhen even said that the Covid-19 vaccine will reach the market at a cost of less than US$145 for the two-dose scheme, a much higher price than that of the other candidates.

The most advanced agreements to purchase international vaccines in Brazil are the Oxford vaccine (in partnership with AstraZeneca), and Sinovac Biotech, initially by the government of São Paulo. The Ministry of Health stated that “all vaccines in the world at an advanced stage of clinical trials are being analyzed.”

Source: Veja