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A Belgian government official revealed in a post on the social network Twitter, which has since been removed, the price of vaccines against covid-19 agreed by the European Commission (EC) with the six pharmaceutical groups that produce them.
The values were until now unknown, under confidentiality agreements established with each of the companies. Since then, the EC has refused to comment on the price list. “We cannot say anything about it,” said one of the spokesmen for the European Commission, Stefan de Keersmaecker, who did not deny the veracity of the publication. “Everything that has to do with the information about the prices of vaccines is covered by the secret. And that is something very important,” he said, while another spokesman Eric Mamer revealed that this price secret was “contractually required” by the companies. vaccine providers. Without these confidentiality clauses “the contracts would not have been made.”
According to Eva de Bleeker’s Twitter, which has since been removed, the price paid for each dose of vaccine varies between 1.78 euros charged by AstraZeneca and 14.70 euros by the modern American pharmaceutical company.
Interestingly, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which should be the first to be marketed in EU countries next week, costs 12 euros a dose.
De Keermaecker said the confidentiality clause in contracts is not only intended to protect “sensitive business information” but also “the public interest.” “If all this sensitive information were made public, it would weaken the position of the Commission’s negotiators and the member states involved in these negotiations,” he said.
According to Eva de Bleeker’s publication, Johnson & Johnson charges 6.94 euros for each vaccine, the contract with Sanofi / GlaxoSmithKline contemplates the payment of 7.56 euros, while Curevac receives 10 euros for each dose.
America pays for more expensive vaccines
Meanwhile, the Washington Post did the math, comparing the Belgian government official’s publication prices with data provided by Bernstein Research, which specializes in analyzing investments, and concluded that the European Union pays less than the United States. for some vaccines, including Pfizer / BioNTech, which are already marketed nationwide and for which the EU receives a 24% discount compared to the US.
This is because while the EU states pay 12 euros per dose, the US government pays 15.9 euros.
The difference is even greater in the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is still in development, but the EU pays 45% less than the US.
In return, Moderna charged 20% more to European countries than to the United States, which hopes to see this vaccine approved next week.
