Bharat Biotech's Krishna Ella wants maximum price for its vaccine

Says the company would like to recover the costs incurred in clinical trials, and other things and reinvest the money into R&D to be ready for future pandemics

Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech is yet to come out with a formal pricing for its Covid-19 vaccine, but company chief Krishna Ella said it would ideally like to have the “maximum possible price”.
 
Covaxin is being sold for $15-20 in the international markets. The company is in process of ramping up its vaccine production capacity to 700 million doses annually and is also pursuing approval for it in 60 countries. In Mexico, the Philippines, and Iran, it is already fetching $15-20 per shot.
 
Ella, CMD of the Hyderabad-based company, told a television channel: “As a company we would like to have the maximum possible price. We would like to recover the costs incurred in clinical trials, and other things. We want to reinvest the money into research and development (R&D) and be ready for future pandemics.”
 
Bharat Biotech is working on other vaccines for Zika, Chikungnya, H1N1 etc. “We need cash for future R&D.” “I never give dividends in my company. I continue to live simply,” Ella said. 
 

Speaking to NDTV, the developer of Covaxin said: “Pricing is a complex matter — what is the central government pricing, state government pricing, private market pricing, etc,”
 
Based on his experience of selling other vaccines, Ella said he felt that each state government can have a different price based on volumes, logistics, at what time they want the delivery, etc.
 
“We have experience and knowledge of working with state governments. But, in the private market, we work with children now (for the non-Covid-19 vaccines). Working with adults is the most dangerous,” Ella said on a lighter note.
 
He also felt that states can opt for tendering and then subsequently choose a vaccine. “They have an accounting process, so tendering can be a route.”
 
Meanwhile, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which is bringing Sputnik V to India, said, “Sputnik V is currently being sold globally at prices of $10 per dose or higher. As far as India is concerned, we are in discussions on the price of the imported vaccine. We will share an update once there are further developments in this regard.”
 
Sources said the cost could be close to $10 per dose in the private market, while the governments may get it for $4 or so.
 
Covaxin has shown an efficacy of 78 per cent against mild, moderate disease and 100 per cent against severe disease from phase 3 trial data analysis. Sputnik V, on the other hand, has shown 97.6 percent efficacy.