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Image source,Reuters
With the emergence of the initial price of many vaccines around the world, the comparison of vaccine price and public affordability between China and the United States has become a hot topic on the Internet. The known world price for single-dose vaccines ranges from RMB 20 (US $ 3) to RMB 300 (US $ 44). Among the current market prices, the most expensive vaccine comes from the China National Pharmaceutical Group.
There are currently three vaccines in China that are in clinical phase III, one is developed by the Chinese army and Cansino Biotech; the other is an inactivated vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group and China Disease Control Virus, and the latter is an inactivated vaccine developed jointly by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Kexing Zhongwei Bio.
In addition to local research and development, the US government also orders vaccines globally and blocks vaccine purchases at a “government-negotiated price” to provide some people with free vaccination. China currently has no public information on foreign vaccine orders, nor does it know whether China’s own-produced vaccines will allow its citizens to receive free vaccines on a large scale.
Image source,Reuters
In this great global public crisis, should the price of vaccines be based on the contradiction between market supply and demand for manufacturers to make a profit or should it be priced at cost? Should the government allow all employees to get vaccinated for free and should the government pay for it?
It is difficult to generalize today. But in the face of major global public crises, companies are clearly facing price pressure.
The price of vaccines in China once again proves public reaction
According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post, two inactivated vaccines from the China National Pharmaceutical Group are seeking conditional approval from the China Food and Drug Administration. Once approved, the highest possible price for the vaccine is 600 yuan (US $ 88). Currently, these two inactivated vaccines require two injections and the price for a single injection is 300 yuan (US $ 44).
An inactivated vaccine from the China National Pharmaceutical Group has been provided to some overseas Chinese state companies and high-risk groups for voluntary use. Hundreds of thousands of people are said to have been vaccinated. The China National Pharmaceutical Group stated that there was no obvious adverse reaction or infection.
Image source,Reuters
China National Pharmaceutical Group once revealed that the price of its vaccines may be less than 1,000 yuan.
The price of 600 yuan for two needles has not yet been officially confirmed by the manufacturer. However, the person in charge of the China National Pharmaceutical Group once said that there are no prices for this product before its official launch, but will fully consider its accessibility, safety, effectiveness and people’s ability to pay to determine its price. .
Chinese netizens said that the price is still too expensive, and some netizens questioned: “Compared with foreign vaccines, why are China’s prices more expensive?”
Another Weibo netizen “Kaitou” said: Not to mention domestic ones, our vaccines have priority in Southeast Asian countries, will you buy them? Can people afford it?
Previously, China had promised that once China’s vaccine was successfully developed, it would give priority to the countries of the Mekong region. It is not yet known whether the price of the exported vaccines is different from that of China.
The latest air price in September is in line with the above statement from the China National Pharmaceutical Group. But last month, the group’s first market test and public response to its prices generated much criticism and doubt.
This is already the second round of discussions triggered by the price of vaccines produced in China. Before this, Liu Jingzhen, chairman and chairman of Sinopharm Group, told Chinese media on August 18 that the Sinopharm vaccine will be launched in December at the end of the year, with an annual output of 200 million doses. Liu Jingzhen said at the time that the price of two injections is less than 1,000 yuan. He explained that the protection rate of a vaccine injection is approximately 97%, and it can reach the level of resistance to the new corona virus after two weeks; If two injections of the vaccine are given, the protection rate can be as high as 100%.
Image source,Reuters
In Chinese social media, “two needles in 1,000 yuan” is widely interpreted as the price of more than 900 yuan.
This is the first time that the price of vaccines has been published in China, and it has quickly generated controversy. Netizens criticized the price for being too expensive for ordinary people. Liu Jingzhen said at the time: “It is not necessary for all the 1.4 billion people in our country to fight. For example, it is necessary for students and office workers who live in densely populated cities, while people who live in sparsely populated rural areas do not need to fight. “
Weibo user “Weiwei’s private place” criticized: “The president personally manipulated.” Another netizen commented: “(The Chinese population) is such a large population, and the per capita income is only one sixth of the United States. The vaccine is more expensive than the United States. Some major pharmaceutical companies predict that the price of the vaccines is about tens of US dollars per injection. The government said the government pays the bill and the injection is free. We cannot make it free nationally, at least it should be very cheap. “
Four days later, on August 22, Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Science and Technology Development Center of the China National Health Commission, said in an interview with Chinese state media CCTV that the new corona vaccine is a product of public health and that its price cannot be based on the contradiction between supply and demand in the market, but can only be based on cost. As a basis for pricing.
It is still unclear how much the China Sinopharm vaccine cost and the share of China’s financial investment. The price of other Chinese-produced vaccines is also unclear, and it is also unknown whether the vaccines run by the Chinese military will be available on the market.
Chinese officials have not yet declared whether the government will pay for the vaccination. If vaccinators pay the bill themselves, China National Pharmaceutical Group’s starting price is the most expensive in the world.
US Government Large-Scale Purchase Price
Sinopharm’s vaccine price speech from China has attracted public attention and one of the key points is the comparison with vaccine prices in Europe and the United States.
In global markets outside of China, the price of multiple vaccines has emerged. The cheapest of these is the candidate vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. When this vaccine is sold to the US government, the cost for each dose of the vaccine is approximately $ 4. This is a price agreed between AstraZeneca and the US government.
Image source,fake images
US President Trump inspects a laboratory developing a new corona vaccine.
In May this year, the vaccine project jointly researched by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford received seed funding of $ 1.2 billion from the US government. Following successful research and development, it will provide 300 million doses of vaccine to the United States.
AstraZeneca also stated that it will not benefit from this pandemic. Reuters quoted AstraZeneca as saying it will mass-produce the new corona vaccine at a single-dose price of just a few dollars. The price in Latin America will not exceed $ 4 per dose and the price for a single dose in India will be around $ 3. The Italian health department stated that this vaccine will not exceed $ 2.8 per dose in Europe.
The American company Johnson & Johnson will sell it for about $ 10 a dose. But this price is also a “government negotiated price,” and Johnson & Johnson needs to provide 100 million doses of vaccine to the US government.
Image source,Reuters
Moderna’s supply of vaccines is relatively high, with prices ranging from US $ 32-37 per dose.
The supply of vaccines from the American biotech company Moderna is relatively high, ranging from US $ 32-37 per dose. Modena said that the high price is due to the small production.
The vaccine developed jointly by Pfizer and the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, which has the same price negotiated with the United States government, will provide 100 million doses of candidate vaccines to the United States government at a price of 2 billion dollars, that is, about $ 20 per dose. Each person needs 2 doses.
Profit or not
Many pharmaceutical companies are under external pressure and have to lower their prices to avoid being accused of making a fortune in a major global public crisis.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated that Americans will be vaccinated for free and no vaccination fee will be charged.
Image source,Russian Direct Investment Fund
Geoffrey Porges, an analyst at SVB Leerink, an investment bank that focuses on investing in the healthcare sector, believes that at $ 40 per person, vaccine prices “manufacturers should be profitable” and, in some regions, gross profit ranges from 60% to 60%. About 80%.
Porgis said this transaction “will provide an important benchmark for the price of the new corona vaccine.” He added that manufacturers of the same vaccine are likely to favor a global price.
Reuters reported that Pfizer and Modena have stated that they will benefit from the vaccine.
Chen Zhengming, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford in the UK, previously told BBC Chinese that “the company’s successful research and development (vaccine) will bring benefits. This is also reasonable because it also invested a lot of resources and costs. in the initial stage “.
Another point worth noting is that, although the cost of each dose of the vaccine jointly developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is about $ 4, which is much lower than the quotes from Pfizer and BioNTech, the investment of the Government has largely offset the costs of research and development. You run the risk that the vaccine will fail.
When will the first new corona vaccine be available?
