Covid-19: Pfizer to price vaccine at 'little out-of-pocket expenses' for Indians

 

• Pfizer said that it will arrange the logistics, including the cold storage, for its vaccine that requires -70 degree Celsius
• The company said that its pricing in India, like other countries, will vary depending on the advanced commitment the government makes and volumes it procures.

New Delhi: Pfizer said that its mRNA vaccine will be priced in a way that will help the Indian government to ensure supply at little or no out-of-pocket expenses for people when the immunisation programme starts.

“We will price in a way that can help governments to ensure that there is little to no out-of-pocket costs for their populations. We remain committed to engaging with the Government of India and explore opportunities to make this vaccine available for use in the country," Pfizer said in a statement.

The government, however, has so far not shown interest in procuring the vaccine from the company despite meetings between its management and government officials, a source in the know said. Part of the hesitation in the government is because of the ultra-low temperature storage conditions of -70 degree Celsius required for the vaccine.

Pfizer, on its part, has said that it will arrange the logistics, including the cold storage, for its vaccine. In a statement earlier this month, the company said its “specially-designed, temperature-controlled thermal shippers, in which doses will arrive, can be used as temporary storage units".

The shipper maintains storage condition -70°C±10°C for 10 days unopened which allows for transportation globally to ensure all patients have access. At hospitals, the vaccine can be stored for five days at refrigerated 2-8°C conditions.

The company said that its pricing in India, like other countries, will vary depending on the advanced commitment the government makes and volumes it procures, as well as “equity and affordability". In the US, the company has priced the vaccine at $19.5 ( ₹1,440) per dose.

While Pfizer has not declared its pricing for India, the cost in the US is over six times than of the $3 per dose Serum Institute of India is expected to charge the government for Covishield, its version of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca plc and University of Oxford.

The government is counting on the launch of Serum Institute’s Covishield next month, along with indigenous vaccines from Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila and Russia’s Sputnik V for its mass vaccinations. All four vaccines require only 2 to 8 degree Celsius normal storage conditions, and, barring Zydus’ three-dose shot, all others are two dose vaccines.

Pfizer, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech have approached the Drug Controller General of India V.G. Somani for emergency licensure for their vaccine. However, Pfizer sought more time from an independent subject expert committee tasked with vetting the proposals, while the panel asked Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech to come back with more data.

According to an official in the apex regulatory body Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech have not made fresh submissions yet and Pfizer has so far been given another date for hearing.