Dive Brief:
- Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel will testify before a Senate committee on March 22 as his company draws fire for plans to raise the price of its COVID-19 vaccine.
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, titled the hearing “Taxpayers Paid Billions For It: So Why Would Moderna Consider Quadrupling the Price of the COVID Vaccine?” Bancel will appear alongside three professors specializing in medicine, law and health management, the committee said Wednesday.
- Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is a longtime critic of pharmaceutical pricing practices. But plans by Moderna and Pfizer to charge as much as $130 a dose for their shots as they transition to a commercial marketplace has drawn special ire from the new HELP chairman. Last month, he accused Moderna of “unacceptable corporate greed.”
Dive Insight:
After successfully developing vaccines in less than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic started, Moderna and Pfizer now face the unique situation of navigating the end of U.S. government contracts that allowed all Americans to receive their shots for free.
The prices outlined by Pfizer and Moderna for the transition to a long-term business represent a significant jump over the $25-$30 a dose paid under government contracts. And Sanders contends that Moderna’s vaccine can be made for as little as $2.85 a dose.
Most health experts expect COVID-19 inoculations to become a yearly recommendation, much like flu vaccines. For well-insured patients, the shots are likely to be fully covered no matter the price. But Sanders and other lawmakers have focused on uninsured and underinsured patients who may find the vaccines are out of reach.
Moderna on Wednesday said it’s fully committed to making sure those patients can still receive their shots for free through the company’s patient assistance program. A spokesperson said more details about how the program will work will be available closer to its launch.
The U.S. government contributed about $1.7 billion to the research and development of Moderna’s vaccine, making the new pricing an extra target for Sanders. But Pfizer isn’t exempt from his criticism. In October, Pfizer’s proposed charges prompted Sanders to tweet that “Pfizer’s greed is killing people throughout the world.”
Separately, the White House has signaled it hopes to keep COVID vaccines and treatments free for the uninsured after sales move to the private market in the second half of the year.