In congressional testimony Wednesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel unabashedly defended the company’s plans to raise the list price of its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States by more than 400%. Help fund clinical development, about $36 billion From worldwide sales.
Bancel appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Work and Pensions Committee this morning, chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). After thanking Bansel for agreeing to testify, Sanders pulled no punches. I am,” he criticized.
Sanders contrasted recent findings that 37% of Americans cannot afford prescription drugs with the billions of dollars in profits made by pharmaceutical companies. I have pointed out several times that I became a millionaire overnight. Bancel is now estimated to be worth more than $4 billion, he added Sanders.
discount
But Sanders’ main aim was to persuade Bancel to reconsider quadrupling the price of its life-saving vaccine. Amid the pandemic, the federal government spent about $10 billion to procure doses that will be provided free to Americans. The price for an early dose was between $15 and $16 for him, but the government paid him just over $26 for a renewed booster injection. Moderna will set a list price for the vaccine at $130 when federal supplies run out later this year and the vaccine moves to the commercial market.
“This vaccine would not exist without the partnership and expertise of the NIH and the significant investment by taxpayers in this country,” Sanders summarized. “And thank the taxpayers in this country for the huge investment they have received from Moderna. I am grateful.”
Sanders’ criticisms and pleas did not appear to move Bansell, who neither conceded nor apologized for the planned price increase. He dismissed the role, emphasizing that the company had built its platform with $3.8 billion in private investment before the pandemic.
As for the per-dose price Moderna charges the US government, Mr. Bancel claimed the US government received a $2.9 billion discount on the price of the vaccine.
“We had no obligation to do so, but in recognition of the US government’s investment, we decided to offer the government a discount,” Bancel said.
It’s unclear what Moderna thought the actual price of the vaccine should have been, but the US “discount” didn’t seem to be a long-term bargain for the US. The US paid just over $26 per dose for the renewed booster, EU paid $25.50despite not investing billions in initial development and procurement.
“Completely insane”
Concerning the quadrupling of discounted prices in the United States, Bancel argued that a simple bulk order for the government is very different in nature from a commercial market disruption, and that disruption comes with extra costs. During the pandemic, Moderna made a deal with one customer of hers – the government – who promised to pay a certain number of doses, armed or not. And the company has delivered those doses to a limited number of federal warehouses.Now the company has thousands of customers, and the company has to deal with complex distribution logistics and deliver more doses than it buys. Moderna also plans to switch from selling multi-dose vials to single-dose vials, which it believes are better suited to the commercial market. “This is not the same product,” Bancel argued, suggesting that the four times the price reflects that.
The commission also questioned Bancel about the company’s financial assistance program. The company boasted that it would ensure that Americans would pay out of pocket for the Moderna COVID vaccine in the future, regardless of whether they had insurance. However, details of how it would work do not exist. The company has admitted that it has not resolved how to negotiate a price with its payers.
“There’s no transparency in pricing. It’s just insane,” Sanders lamented.
With no evidence available, Sanders moved to a final plea at the hearing.
“The people of our country, the United States, generally pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs … at least the price you are charging for vaccines today low More than any other country in the world is paying? Or are you going to pay top dollar again? “
Bansel began by pointing out that different countries have different medical costs before Sanders interrupted and instructed them to give a candid answer.