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Pfizer plans to sell its Covid vaccine at a 10k% markup
- jhgkjhlkhjkljk 4y ago
- sn0w_crash 4y agoCovid vaccines are a great revenue stream.
- Proven 4y ago
- chrisandchris 4y ago> Pfizer also says it is the company’s expectation that most privately insured patients will continue not to face out-of-pocket costs for the vaccine [...] So if you're not directly paying it, it is fine? Because _someone_ has to pay for the insurance.
- secabeen 4y agoYeah, this is a classic bait-and-switch that the Rx companies do. "No patient out-of-pocket!" they tout, as they charge $10k+ to the insurance companies, and by proxy, to the company the employee works for. The Rx company still gets paid the same amount, just through proxies.
- chrsig 4y agoTo ask a naive question: What is it about the flu & covid that require annual boosters? Is it just the prevalence of it creating different variants at a higher rate than other viruses? Is there a reason beyond cash incentive?
- smt88 4y ago> Is it just the prevalence of it creating different variants at a higher rate than other viruses? Yes. Mutation is also driven partly by infection rates, so a virus that mutates slowly and infects 1 billion people is going to produce dangerous new strains more rapidly than a virus that mutates quickly and infects 100 people. > Is there a reason beyond cash incentive? Yes. Flu vaccines targeted at emerging strains are much, much more effective. "This year's" flu vaccine is never 100% effective on any strain (which is true of all vaccines), but there's a huge difference between a vaccine that's 80% effective for the majority of flu infections vs. a vaccine that's 20% effective.
- landemva 4y agoConsider the individual's risk profile (such as age, obesity, etc.) and consider the risks of the medical treatment. All medical treatments have side effects and risks. For a typical child, there is no benefit to a yearly Covid shot, though a yearly flu shot may be worthwhile. In consultation with my Dr., I get neither of these.
- barbazoo 4y ago> For a typical child, there is no benefit to a yearly Covid shot What makes you come to that conclusion?
- retinaros 4y agothe fact that it is banned in some countries like danemark that you know gets the top spot in worldwide healthcare. but you can trust a company that had to pay billions for lying instead.
- barbazoo 4y agoNot a ban: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-denmark-idUSL1N2ZS0J8 https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-denmar... Also, what about the dozens of developed countries, many of which in the EU with good health care, that do offer vaccines for children?
- iLoveOncall 4y agoThey mention a production cost of $1.20 per vial, but I imagine this only involves the actual production and not what the initial R&D has cost, so the figure of 10,000% is probably largely exaggerated. 10,000% also sounds a lot worst than "$130 per vial for a production cost of $1.20". I don't find the price shocking.
- 7speter 4y agoIt seems they might also be covering costs for when a vial gets opened for a shot or two and then has to be thrown away after being above freezing for too long.
- brianwawok 4y agoNo in the new pricing it’s single dose vials. But even today they are making a 5 dose vial for $9 and selling each shot for $30. If they throw away 4 they still made money.
- sschueller 4y agoThe R&D at either Moderna or Pfizer was paid for by tax payers.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago> Pfizer did not accept federal funding to help develop or manufacture the vaccine https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/health/was-the-pfizer-vaccine-part-of-the-governments-operation-warp-speed.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/heal... "Tax payers" also means nothing when vaccines are developed in one or a few countries but sold to all countries in the world. Pretty sure Zimbabwean tax payers didn't fund the Pfizer vaccines.
- Wowfunhappy 4y ago> "Tax payers" also means nothing when vaccines are developed in one or a few countries but sold to all countries in the world. Pretty sure Zimbabwean tax payers didn't fund the Pfizer vaccines. Your first point notwithstanding, I don't think this is relevant. Regardless of whether R&D was funded by US taxpayers or German taxpayers or martian lizard people, it means there is no R&D cost for the company to recoup. The US could theoretically (!) try to recoup their costs from foreign governments whose countries benefitted from a cheap, US-funded vaccine, but that becomes a diplomatic issue.
- gchaincl 4y agoI wonder if that production cost covers the initial R&D costs
- TheLoafOfBread 4y agoBut those were paid by EU and I would assume USA during 2020? https://sciencebusiness.net/covid-19/news-byte/how-eu-spent-eu469m-covid-19-research-year https://sciencebusiness.net/covid-19/news-byte/how-eu-spent-...
- lizardactivist 4y agoIs this after all the other raises? Wasn't there a 20% hike last year when it was clear there was going to be a whole lot more doses needed? Don't be naive and think that Big Pharma's #1 priority is anything but money.
- _-david-_ 4y agoJust create a subscription. $50 a year gets you two boosters a year.
- vparikh 4y ago> There are key differences between an emergency and traditional model that increase the costs of making and distributing the COVID-19 vaccine,” Pfizer told Quartz via email. These costs, the company says, include distributing through multiple channels and payers instead of one, as well as producing the doses in single vials, which can be up to three times more expensive and run into higher transportation costs. Did Pfizer just admit that single payer systems are more economical than the privatized mess we have in the US????
- retinaros 4y agolets remember that shkreli character was assasinated because he did a similar feat (while making it free for uninsured people) and that helped making his jail sentence worse while also being harassed by the media and people on social networks.