Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to have differential pricing across countries

Global pharma major Pfizer has said it will have differential pricing on its COVID-19 vaccine for different countries, as the company aims to make the vaccine available across the world.

The company's Indian arm has sought emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 in the country fromthe Indian drug regulator.

After the UK approval for the vaccine, Pfizer and BioNTech are anticipating further regulatory decisions across the globe in the coming days and are ready to deliver vaccine doses following potential regulatory authorisations or approvals,Pfizer had earlier said.

"The fundamental that went into the pricing was that we make sure we make it very quickly available to everyone," Pfizer Inc Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said at a virtual press conference organised by International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) on Tuesday.

"We are having a tier pricing. It is one price for the developed world based on their GDP, another price, lower for the middle-income countries and in the low-income countries, like countries in Africa etc we are giving it on a not-on-profit base," he added.

Even in developed countries, the price is what they can afford to pay. In the US the price is USD 19.50, the price of an average meal, Bourla said.

The company is in talks with various governments for the vaccine, he added.

Bourla also said the company is also working on a new formulation that will be able to avoid the -70 degree requirement and can be stored in simple refrigeration.