BioNTech’s chief strategy officer Ryan Richardson said that the company’s Pfizer-partnered COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 will be priced “well below typical market rates”.
Richardson made the comments at a Financial Times virtual event yesterday, adding that the price of the mRNA-based vaccine will reflect the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need for ways to combat the health crisis.
He also said that he expects the vaccine will have “differential pricing” depending on where and to which region it is being sold, although he gave no detail on how the companies will decide the different prices.
“We’ve tried to pursue a balanced approach that recognises that innovation requires capital and investment, so we plan to price our vaccine well below typical market rates reflecting the situation that we’re in and with the goal to ensure broad-based access around the world,” said Richardson.
Pfizer and BioNTech already have several supply deals in place for BNT162b2, including deals with the EU, the UK, the US, Canada, Japan and other countries.
The deal with the US government includes an initial order of 100 million doses for $1.95bn, with an option to acquire up to 500 million additional doses. The price for these additional doses will be negotiated separately.
This means that, in the US deal, two doses of the vaccine costs $39, or $19.50 per dose.
Richardson also added at the FT event that the order size agreed within each deal could impact the per-dose price for BNT162b2 in the “developed world”.
On Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine has an efficacy rate above 90%, based on preliminary data from the first interim analysis from a large-scale study.
The vaccine must be stored at an ultra-low temperature – below 70C (94F) – raising certain logistical issues if the vaccine receives regulatory approval soon.
Pfizer said that it is already preparing to distribute its COVID-19 vaccine if it scores regulatory approval, with doses already set to go in its warehouses in the US and Europe, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The WSJ also revealed that Pfizer has designed a ‘new reusable container’ that ensures the vaccine can be kept at the ultra-low temperatures required for up to ten days while it is being transported. These containers can hold between 1,000 and 5,000 doses, according to WSJ.
Pfizer and BioNTech have previously disclosed that they expect to produce up to 50 million doses of BNT162b2 in 2020, with a further 1.3 billion doses projected in 2021.