Modern Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) is seeking to price its COVID-19 vaccine significantly ahead of its rivals at $ 50 to $ 60 per course, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
What happened
The Massachusetts-based biotechnology company is considering pricing the single dose of the vaccine in the $ 25- $ 30 range, according to the Financial Times. This would be significantly higher than the implicit price of $ 19.50 per serving than Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) and its German partner BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) are charging the United States government as part of their pre-order agreement.
AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) has reached an agreement with the governments of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy to supply their COVID-19 vaccine at a price of $ 3 to $ 4 per dose, according to SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges. .
Moderna wants to charge early buyers, including the European Union, a price that is in high double-digit dollars per course, people familiar with the Financial Times said.
The company’s price was causing “considerable concern and difficulties in the negotiations, in view of the fact that other companies have promised much lower prices,” said one of the sources for the British publication.
Because it is important
Modern, Pfizer, and Merck & Co., Inc (NYSE: MRK) They all said at a congressional hearing last week that they intended to make a profit on their respective vaccines.
AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) said they would not make a profit on the vaccines, if they obtained regulatory approval, in the early stages of the pandemic.
Moderna announced Sunday that it would receive an additional $ 472 million in funding from the United States government, in addition to a $ 483 million award it had already received, for the clinical development of the vaccine in the later stages. Earlier this month, the government promised $ 1.6 billion in funds to Novavax, Inc (NASDAQ: NVAX).
Price action
Moderna shares closed almost 2% higher at $ 81.49 on Tuesday and added another 0.5% in after-hours trading.
NIH photo on Flickr
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